Whenever I stumble across these old ads and catalogs I’m reminded how temporal value is. It seems obvious, of course, that today’s highly collectible and rare racing part or accessory was yesterday’s common off-the-shelf product. Today any of these dash-mounted Heuer timers would cause a bidding frenzy on eBay or Pelican Parts. In 1960 one of them could have been yours for about fifty bucks.
I’m reminded of a scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark which describes this phenomenon so wonderfully. The villain, René Belloq, holds up a pocket watch and says, “Look at this. It’s worthless. Ten dollars from a vendor in the street. But I take it, I bury it in the sand for a thousand years, it becomes priceless! Like the Ark. Men will kill for it; men like you and me.”
Now I don’t think anyone is going to kill for a Heuer dash timer. Maybe give it a few more years.
See the complete catalog at On the Dash.
0 replies on “Shopping the 1960 Heuer Rally Timer Catalog”
Curta calculators are pricey now too. I will always regret selling mine for $15 to a buddy who wanted to rally . But, to a college student between meal jobs, that was a lot of dough.
Is that a readers light on top? I can only imagine how hard they would be to read in daylight when at speed.
I still have my Curtas; they are really handy and -if you know how to use them- quick and very exact. Some pictures of mine and vids here:
http://jensjansen.com/blog1/2010/12/11/mein-rallye-computer/