I just saw the Reddit post: uber-cool stuff.
The metal “Varius” might be a shoot-out to the classic Faber-Castell 9026 “Varius” (wooden body, green lacquer with golden foil imprint, very unusual clutch system), just built with a metal barrel.
Something about the drill-head-like prongs of the F.C. Varius is discussed here (I should add a few more pictures, but at that time my camera did not allow for enough magnification).
PS: some of these old leadholders were either magnificent in construction, or amazing in design — sometimes both, as I think it is the case both for the metal Varius and the short Automat.