I have found over the years that there is a surprising correlation between vintage automobile and vintage watch fans — including me. This Heuer Camaro (yes, it was named after the car, more about that later) was designed and introduced by the famous timepiece manufacturer in 1968, just before their Chronomatic self-winding watches took off. This particular self-wind watch is fully functional and is listed for sale here on eBay, where heavy bidding has just broached the $1,000 mark. If you are the lucky high bidder, the watch will ship from Bellflower, California.
Heuer (and later TAG-Heuer) have sponsored races and racing cars almost from the onset of auto competitions. I grew up seeing the Heuer logo on telecasts and in the pages of Road & Track and similar magazines, and I remember thinking how cool Steve McQueen’s watch looked in the movie Le Mans. Of course, it was a Heuer. According to this incredibly detailed guide on the Heuer Camaro, the watch was named after the car in an effort to strengthen Heuer’s position in the American market as a result of the Camaro being named the pace car for the Indy 500. The distinctive not round but not square case is known as a “cushion” shape, and it makes the Camaro stand out from other similar vintage chronographs.
This particular Camaro features the Valjoux 7736 movement, the basis of which is still used today and provides a three sub-register face with, in this case, a white on black dial. I decided to do some research on other Heuer Camaros for sale; they are actually quite rare as production ended in 1972. The average price of used Camaros on the market was in the $4,500 to $5000 range, with some sales ranging as high as $10,000. Which, while still being lower than the average price for a running 1968 Camaro Super Sport (the Chevrolet version) at $27,400, is still a sizeable chunk of change.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this rather unusual find – don’t worry, we aren’t turning the site into Watch Finds, but occassionally we post automotive-related items of interest. Tell us about your automotive-themed watches and what your favorite one is!
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