The Heuer Autavia is perhaps one of the most iconic racing chronographs. Heuer first applied the name "Autavia" (a portmanteau of "automotive" and "aviation") to dashboard clocks in cars and airplanes. But it's with the chronographs intended for use in motorsports that the name "Autavia" is best associated. 

The earliest Autavias were introduced in the mid-1960s and housed manually-wound chronograph movements. These early models had screw-down case backs, unusual for racing chronographs of the period. Then, around 1969, Heuer began using a snap-back compressor case for improved water resistance; however, in the 1970s, Heuer shifted to the large, cushion-style cases that are most often associated with the model, primarily to accommodate the new Caliber 11 movement. 

We'd argue that these great 70s cushion-cased watches take the title of Heuer's most perfect execution of the Autavia. This was the watch designed by Heuer for real race car drivers, and real race car drivers wore them--think or . Pair a beefy steel case with a rotating bezel, twin subsidiary registers and a date function, and power it with an automatic winding chronograph movement, and you have yourself a sporting timepiece for the ages.

Autavias from this era were offered in a multitude of dial configurations, from the white with black sub-dials and blue chronograph hand, a la Siffert, or the reverse panda with red chronograph hand favored by Bell. This particular example, a Reference 11630V, features a slightly larger case than the earlier 1163 and houses the improved Caliber 12 automatic chronograph movement and the classic "Viceroy" color scheme replete with red marks for the hour indices and long red stripes on the hour and minute hands.

While Viceroy Autavias are relatively plentiful on the market, finding good examples that have been serviced and maintained properly and haven't had their cases overly polished is becoming difficult. We are constantly on the lookout for survivors and are very pleased to present this example with a strong case and nearly flawless dial and handset. Make no mistake, these killer 70s Autavias are a tremendous value, and look absolutely stunning on the wrist.