Yeah, definitely sounds like a Moka pot. They're really popular and could even be said to be making a 'speciality resurgence'. Percolators on the other hand are pretty bad. The Moka pot can overheat things if not used well, but a percolator basically always overheats the coffee as part of the way it works!

My first encounter with one of those was years ago, the person who had it referred to it as a "geyser".

I should pick one up sometime.