I would forget history, get it to be my main TT.
get the great TT, get a great tonearm with removable headshell and a modern MC cartridge of choice, optional cartridges on headshells waiting for their turn. It could compete with nearly anything.
My Thorens TD124: I used an SME-3009 II Tonearm with Shure’s last great MM: V15Vxmr, beryllium cantilever, micro-ridge, tracked at 1.0 g. I think a part of the ’best bass’
Tonearm: consider ease of adjusting arm height, not so much for perfect VTA, more for if planning on a few cartridge bodies that might be slightly taller or shorter .
Others exist: I have installed:
my Acos Lustre GST-801, loosen by hand short arm locking lever, turn for up/dn, tighten (easy, smooth, adjust while playing)
my Russian 12.5" arm, has micrometer for fine height adjustment, BUT you have to loosen two allen set screws (after you find the right size allen key), so: precise but not a quick change for a different cartridge. (not removable headshell anyway, I just mean: micrometer, precision, if not easy ...)
Two Micro-Seiki 505’s for a friend (just mounted two new cartridges for him this past Saturday. Loosen short locking lever by hand, move up/dn, lock by hand, easy, however not as smooth as Acos, I would not do it while playing. Quick enough, simply lift arm up, adjust by hand, arm back down.
Another feature these arms have is an adjustable fitting for the headshell to set azimuth. loosen tiny screw, rotate fitting a speck, tighten tiny screw.
Technics EPA B-500 tonearm base, wonderful: unlock by hand, turn outer ring by hand, lock by hand. Same as Micro-Seiki, not while playing: unlock by hand/lift/adjust/down, lock by hand
the up/dn lever is to raise/lower arm, the lower outer ring is arm height.
this base allows switching arm wands also, another way to have different cartridges ready to go. the S arm wand is removable headshell; straight arm wand is fixed.