124 Spider - South of France 1995

124 Spider Project - The Story So Far...

So, it all started properly back on 1992 with the purchase of LKE289V, a recently imported 1979 Fiat 124 Spider 2000. Imported from California, the mileage was pretty low and the body sound.The seed was sown a few years previously when I was living in West London and used to spend ages checking out any I saw parked up or cruising down the Kings Road in Chelsea.

The superb Pininfarina coachwork was the thing that hit me first.

So, here we are today. This is the start of the road to being, well, back on the road after several years of shameful neglect.

Last change was a new set of CD30 Alloys with new Pirelli rubber.

Nice ar$e :-)

And here minus huge American bumpers - sorry, no offence intended but these were meant for the US market only.

So, one black mirror and one red? What's that all about?

So the rules in the UK are that after 1978 you need a mirror on both sides and I had to  get this on PDQ to get the car legal again

Hmmm, nice wheels...rear end looks more like a monster truck now though minus those big bumpers - mental note to get some shorter springs :-)

Ah, now, spot the difference...yep you got it - these are the big, huge, American bumpers which HAD to go!

En-route to Magny Cours for the F1 GP. Yep another Schumacher victory - see how low the rear is sitting with the bumpers fitted!

And on the way home via the Eurostar.

Stop off @ the flat in London.

Aeros and Autos at the Museum of Flight in East Lothian

Outside the lockup in West London.

Some shots taken back in 92 just after I bought it.

Siffert Autavia 1163T cleanup...

Sorry not much time for blogging lately but here's an 'arty' shot of my older Siffert, post-cleanup, last weekend.I was granted a child-free house for 2 whole hours (a rare occasion!) and used it to give the case and pushers etc a good clean :-)

Monaco 1133B Transitional - pretty rare!

Update..OK, since this post there have been a few others turn up, most in far better condition - so, no longer in the top 10, still rare though! I also finally found those hands at last - see post here. Andy 01/11

Wow, I didn't appreciate how rare my Transitional 1133B actually is.
There's a list of early Monacos over @ OTD and this one's in the top 10!
Still need to find those hands though!
Followed lots of leads but all end up @ a dead end!!!!!

11630 Lug holes...

I had a hard time recently swapping a regular G/F bracelet from a 11630T onto a GMT.
In fact, I nearly speared my hand in the process!!! :-)
Above is a shot of the hole in the GMT lug and below the 11630T.
So, the lugs are deeper on the GMT.
Maybe this is the reason for the HLF/HLD end-pieces.
I'm guessing the HLD is more suitable for the GMT style lug.
Or maybe the G/F just isn't appropriate for this type of case...

Autavia fest...

Had the Autavias out this morning to log the serial numbers so seemed like a good opportunity for a group shot...Clockwise from the top left is 2446C/GMT, 11630GMT,11630T,1163GMT, early 1163T Siffert and later 1163T Siffert.

Autavia Ref. 2446C GMT, shiny new bezel...

OK, I'm kidding - its just an after-market bezel insert for a 1163 resting on top of the old one :-)
Thing is with the 2446 bezels, they're one-piece with the numbers printed (or dyed?) onto the bezel itself unlike the 1163 for example which has a separate bezel insert.

I am actually tempted to shave a bit off the base of the insert and stick it on though as what's there already is so faded - purists would be horrified but its stopping me wearing the watch as it is and I can always remove it later anyway.
This is really common feature/problem and its rare to find one with the original strong colours it left the factory with...

Montreal style bracelet on Autavia 11630

Heuer Montreal style bracelet.

Part of a trade with a OTD regular.

Much lighter that the more common plated bracelet and also the clasp stretches via a spring much like the NSA Monaco bracelets.
It's a much more fitting accessory than the G/F rice style that suits the 1163 case better (IMO that is :-))

Autavia 1163 GMT, post-cleanup!

So, here's the GMT that arrived yesterday, bought from a guy in New York.
This shot's as it was out of the packaging...
As you can see the glass was pretty scuffed up taking the shine off the dial.
Removing the bezel revealed years of gunge and dirt etc.
Removed the pushers which were pretty bunged up too.
After a bl**dy good clean, popped the movement back in.
And, really pleased with the results :-)

Autavia 1163 GMT

Just arrived - 1163 GMT. Looks pretty good - I'll give it a good clean and see what we've got...

How to use the automatic AUTAVIA GMT chronograph

AUTAVIA 1163 GMT chronograph instructions...And for those reading in black and white, the red hand is the one next to the yellow :-)

Early Monaco 1133b - The full package!

Early Monaco 1133b - The full package!Early un-modded Calibre 11.
Gloss blue dial and keeps perfect time with the only problem being the date doesn't always change - a common problem which is one of the reasons they were modded by Heuer.
Anyway currently being rectified and back soon...
A keeper :-)

Quartz??!!!

Yeah really, Quartz!
This is a great daily wearer.
This boy goes places the Monacos would never dare...no problems working on the Land Rover, doing the garden, even going for a swim.
In fact I was delighted when I accidentally chipped the steel case meaning I no longer needed to worry about scratching or denting it :-)
It's actually a pretty cool watch...look at the length of the tail on that second hand! Magic!
Heuer Quartz 200M Professional - Reference No.980.006

Autavia 2446c GMT

Circa 1968 Autavia 2446c GMT. The suffix 'c' is for compression type caseback.

Managed to source a box and correct bracelet but on me it looks and feels so much better on a NATO.

I did run into difficulties a few years back tracking down an hour wheel for the 24hr hand.
The V/J 72-4 is quite a rare find these days and I was on the verge of cannibalizing an old Enicar Jet-Graph for spares - fortunately one turned up just in time :-)
Also the same movement in a Zodiac and Breitling of the late 60's.

UPDATE: 23rd June 2010 - Back from service @ TAG with shiny new bezel http://24heuer.blogspot.com/2010/06/2446c-gmt-back-from-tag-heuer-mixed.html

Silverstone 1987, Derek Bell Autavia Bezel Insert(?)

All this stuff about the Derek Bell Autavias at the moment (recent posts on OTD and there are a couple of 'NOS' Derek Bell Autavias for sale just now) brings back memories of 1987.

Here's the infamous MH bezel insert that distinguishes a 'Derek Bell' Autavia.
Yeah I know that's Jackie Stewart in the background!So, back to 1987...At the time I was sharing a huge house in a small village close to Silverstone.
The other guys there included a French racing driver, Aussie racing mechanic, a couple of hippies, an Aston Martin rep (who once or twice brought back a nice V8 Volante en-route for the German Autobahns to meet some lucky prospective buyer for a proper test-drive), Russian journalist, 2 or 3 civil servants and a Glaswegian couple just back from South Africa.
The car park consisted of, amongst others, a Fiat 126 (which could only be started after pushing it to the top of the local hill and letting go), Lancia Beta, Ford Cortina, Mini Clubman, Citroen Decapotable and my MGB which had a few electrical faults including the embarrassing problem of the horn going off by itself without warning! (not good when sitting in traffic with lots of pedestrians walking by)
Anyway being part of this mad bunch meant the occasional visit to Silverstone and some amazing unrestricted circuit access :-)

So what's all this got to do with Derek Bell?
I was fortunate enough to be there at the time of the 1987 1000km of Silverstone, (May 10th) and see him testing his Porsche.
You can see Derek Bell's name on one of the cars below and that could be him in one of the other shots...
Excuse the quality - this is pre-digital-AutoFocus magic :-)
I seem to remember this was the start of a resurgence from Jaguar.
Here are the stats -
1 C1 4 Silk Cut Jaguar/Eddie Cheever/Raul Boesel/Jaguar XJR-8
2 C1 5 Silk Cut Jaguar/Jan Lammers/John Watson/Jaguar XJR-8
3 C1 17 Porsche AG/Hans-Joachim Stuck/Derek Bell/Porsche 962C
4 C1 18 Porsche AG/Jochen Mass/Bob Wollek/Porsche 962C
Pole Position - #17 Porsche AG - 1:15.110
Fastest Lap - #4 Silk Cut Jaguar - 1:18.120
And get this - Average Speed - 198.627 km/h