Bruce Mackie writes:

Tag Heuer have deceided to reissue the Autavia, undoubtedly their best selling Cal 11 watch. Naturally they have chosen the 'Siffert' model (white dial, black registers and blue hands) for their announcement. This was originally sold in limited numbers, rumour has it about 1000 though I don't know if this is correct. They also intend to do a black dial version.

Here is the official TAG-Heuer announcement from their website: Autavia

In 2003, TAG Heuer is launching a contemporary version of the Autavia model created by Jack Heuer himself 40 years ago.

In tribute to Autavia, the legendary dashboard and instrument panel counter that was standard equipment on many planes and cars in the 1930s, Jack Heuer created the Autavia model in 1963, fitted as of 1969 with a Chronomatic Caliber 11 with microrotor, a genuine technological innovation for the period as the first automatic chronograph movement.

Having become a legend thanks to F1 Swiss racing driver Jo Siffert, the Autavia was redesigned in 2002 by Jack Heuer himself with the TAG Heuer Research and Development teams and will be presented for the first time at the Basel Show in 2003.

The tonneau shape of its case with its crown positioned at 9 o'clock and its two registers, respectively placed at 2 o'clock (for the seconds) and at 4 o'clock (for the minutes), make the Autavia a resolutely contemporary model with an avantgarde design in the choice of its two dials: an opalescent silvered version with black registers and blue hands, and a black one with silvered registers and orange hands.

comments please?

Somewhere Jo Siffert is smiling! Nicely done. I'd prefer it to be labeled "Heuer" instead of TAG-Heuer but, I understand the need to make a distinction. I also wish it had a 12-hour register, but there are probably technical reasons (with the crown position and availability of movements) why they went the way they did.

I also found these WONDERFUL Jo Siffert Tribute Sites this morning:

http://homepages.compuserve.de/bmwf270/siffert/siffmem.htm

http://josiffert.info/start.htm

I think we should think about contacting the owner and asking permission to use pictures on his site for On The Dash. Perhaps we can offer to help document the Jo Siffert / Heuer connection...

What do you all think?

thanks to Matthias LiebeKleymann for drawing my attention to this announcement

Like Bruce, I hadn't seen that... Thank you Matthias for bringing it to our attention.

Bruce Mackie. - London

Chuck Maddox - Greater Chicago Metroplex