Original vintage 1970s print advertisement for the Heuer Autavia chronograph and Heuer dash timers, "What kind of pilot would need all three Heuer timers?"
Dimensions: Roughly 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
Heuer has a deep history rooted in motorsports racing, despite facing difficulty selling wristwatch chronographs in the early 1970’s. In fact, Heuer’s stopwatches, the leader in track timing at the time, vastly outsold its wristwatches used for motorsports timing at the time.
From this difficult time came a unique partnership – Heuer was struggling to sell watches, Viceroy its cigarettes. Heuer and Viceroy approached the famous Parnelli Jones racing team with a proposal to promote both the sportsman’s cigarette and Autavia chronograph, respectively. From this proposal arose a new version of the famed Heuer Autavia as part of a cross-branding cigarette/chronograph promotion.
Heuer produced this special version of the 1163, the Calibre 11 1163V, for the deal - and Viceroy offered the watch for $88 when combined with a single box top from a Viceroy Cigarette carton. The promotion was a great branding (and financial) success for Heuer, and laid the foundation for a subsequent successful rise.
The name Autavia, first used on Heuer dashboard racing timers in the 1930s, came from a combo of two words - Automotive & Aviation. The 1163 was launched in 1969 and has the 1163 reference number engraved between the lugs.
Most of the 1163 range was on sale from 1969-1972 - while the 1163 was only on sale for a few years, the case design served as the template for Autavias that followed.
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$79.99Price
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