Sports cars from the 60s are always right. Breitling impresses with Top Time
At Breitling's presentation in Geneva a Chevrolet Corvette, a Ford Mustang and a Shelby Cobra thundered into the hall at full speed. It turned out that these three icons of American car culture had each been given a chronograph, à la Breitling's earlier collection where the airlines Pan Am, Swiss Air and TWA were each honoured with a Navitimer. Eqotime's Britta Rossander and Mia Litström were of course on site.
Text: Britta Rossander
Photo: Mia Litström
At Breitling’s presentation in Genève a Chevrolet Corvette, a Ford Mustang and a Shelby Cobra thundered into the hall at full speed. It turned out that these three icons of American car culture had each been given a chronograph á la Breitling’s earlier collection where the airlines Pan Am, Swiss Air and TWA were honoured with a Navitimer each. Eqotime’s Britta Rossander and Mia Litström were of course on the spot.
New and welcome collaborations
When Breitling broke up with Bentley, which was not a day too early, I immediately nurtured a personal wish that they would join forces with a white Ford Mustang 1968 with a convertible top which I thought was a perfect one for them. But, that will never be possible since there is only one car. But oh how wrong I was, it became a green one with a fast back. Whatever, that works just as well!
The new watches are a flirt with the Breitling Top Time models from the 1960s that suited ”young and active professionals” according to the advertising. Many Hollywood celebrities wore them and today they are sought after on the vintage market. The most famous wrist one of them sat on was Sean Connery’s as Agent 007 in the film Thunderball from 1965.
The new watches are good-looking and easy to wear. They are also completely without complicated complications or odd choices of material. It is something as pleasant as just very delicious watches with a connection to really cool American (old) cars. They stand out through the colours of the dials which are red, blue and green as well as leather straps in racing style.
It was a proud Georges Kern (CEO) who presented both cars and watches in Genève. When I talked with him afterwards I learned that the Mustang was his dream car but that he had never driven one in his youth. That is why the model work started from it. He also told me that it had taken two years to get Ford to agree to the manufacture of the watches in the car’s name. For the other two brands it was considerably simpler.
The cars
The new watches are, apart from to Ford, connected to Chevrolet and Shelby. Top Time Chevrolet Corvette in red and black, is based on the design of the Corvette C2 from the middle of the 1960s. A car model that by the enthusiasts is called ”Sting Ray”. A fun coincidence is that Louis-Joseph Chevrolet was born in 1878 in the watchmakers’ capital La Chaux-de-Fonds. He was a Swiss racing driver and later co founder of Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911.
For Chevrolet’s part it is the second generation Corvette, which was sold from 1963 until 1967, that is the most sought after. ”Sting Ray” took inspiration from a racing prototype from 1959. And it is thanks to its slim low body that it looks so fantastic.
The green Top Time Ford Mustangversion is inspired by the car that was developed in 1964. It was produced from 1964 to 1969. It was compact, affordable and sporty. It also reached icon status in the hands of rock stars and Hollywood actors. In addition it also played a big role itself on the silver screen. Steve McQueen’s green Ford Mustang GT390, which he in 1968 flew along Filbert Street in San Fransisco with in the film Bullit, was sold last year for 35,5 million kronor. By then it had stood in a garage since 1978!
Top Time Shelby Cobraversion in blue with white racing stripes follows the design of the car. A model that was created by the American racing driver and Le Mans winner and manufacturer Carroll Shelby. It was originally drawn for the races in the 1960s and Shelby wanted a car where British chassis design was combined with American racing technology. He created the Shelby Cobra which in an ingenious way matched a small, light chassis with a strong, reliable American big-block engine. When it was introduced in 1962 the Cobra immediately had great success.
The watches
The cases for the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang versions are 42 mm and contain Breitling’s automatic calibre 25 with 42 hours of power reserve. They have a tachymeter scale and three black cushion-shaped subdials on the dial. The car’s logo sits at 12 o’clock. In the slightly smaller (40 mm) Top Time Shelby Cobra sits Caliber 41 also with 42 hours of power reserve and the car’s logo sits here at 6 o’clock.
All case backs are engraved with the cars’ logotypes and they are water resistant to 100 metres.
– The cars give a feeling of freedom so strong that you might lose track of time. In these beautiful machines it is more about the journey than the speed, said Breitling’s CEO Georges Kern.
And that is something we who live in the Classic Car dense Siljan region can agree with.
