Hi there! This snippet may be old news to some of you guys but I thought I'd post it anyway. It comes from an article on the Heuer Monaco in last Saturday's (London) Financial Times in which the journalist, Peter Howarth, recalls a chance meeting with Jack Heuer at the time of the TAG re-launch of the watch.
Jack Heuer says "It's a funny story,the Monaco.You see Steve was not really supposed to wear it.He based his character in the film 'Le Mans' on Swiss racing legend Joe Sieffert,who taught him how to drive a racing Porsche. McQueen used Joe for inspiration, right down to the overalls he wore,which happened to feature a Heuer patch. Joe also wore one of the watches I had designed, the Autavia. But on the day of shooting I went down to the set with a big selection of watches and Steve chose the Monaco instead of the Autavia.The Monaco has what I call a 'rebel' watch case - very unusual.Steve didn't know the brand , and obviously didn't have any Idea of what he was about to start."
Apologies once again if this is a well worn tale! I'd also just like to take this opportunity to congratulate all concerned in the establishment and running of "On the dash" - a superb resource and website. Cheers!