Ferrari Mailing List: Staying firmly OT: Watches and cars and storage, oh my!

[Rick Lindsay (richardolindsay]

George, Matt, et al.,

Isn't it a treat to have such wonderful hobbies?! I too enjoy fine watches - and cameras and cars. Its part of that 'machines' appreciation. 

In the timepiece world I have two old coin silver railroad pocket watches. Both are key wind. One has an ivory face. The other one's face appears to be porcelain on a brass substrate. And both came from my grandad. He was a Pullman Conductor on the Union Pacific railroad's Chicago through Denver to the west coast run. Perhaps that's where I got my love for trains. Or perhaps it comes from living just a couple of miles away from where Dr. Sheldon Cooper grew up!

In 1943 my dad graduated from highschool. To commemorate the event, his father, the Pullman Conductor with a great respect for the words, "on time", gave him an Elgin tank watch. When dad died, I got the watch and own it still. Somewhere along the way, probably in the '60s, it was repaired and a replacement stem was installed. The 'crown' of the stem is too large, this being a generic part that fit rather than a correct Elgin replacement part. I am torn between finding a correct stem and leaving the watch as dad last wore it. At present, the latter case is winning. I occasionally wear the watch and it 'keeps time' just fine.

Having come of age in the '60s and being fascinated by NASA and the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo program, I just had to have a Bulova Accutron - the first watch of the Magnificent Seven. I bought mine in 1970.  It is a second generation Accutron in about the cheapest gold plated brass case available, at the time. First generation Accutrons had a setting mechanism on the back of the watch and no 'stem', per se. This was to emphasize that it was an electric watch, using a tuning fork motor. Quartz watches were yet to be invented! Second generation Accutrons had a conventional stem, making them easier to set, but the stem was offset 45 degrees from the typical location - again to emphasize that this was no 'ordinary' hand wound watch.

I also have a stainless and gold TAG Heuer with mother of pearl dial, that I bought 25 years ago. The case is wear-worn but the 'motor', to use the watchmaker's term, is still flawless. It has gone through the TAG repair facility for cleaning and a full restoration, EXCEPT for the case and bracelet. I have kept the 25 years of external patina unchanged.

That's it for the older watches. In the newer category are a Ferrari Rattrapante Tachymeter and a Breitling Navitimer 01 - and a couple of Timex beater watches for the garage.

I also like cameras and own quite a few. Some are simple and old, others are newer and quality machines but not in the Hasselblad or Leica class. Sadly my original Nikon F with the Photomic light meter head, was stolen. That was a long time ago. Today in addition to the antiques, I have two FMs, one silver and one black. Also have an FG and a plethora of Nikkor lenses - some automatic, some completely manual. None are autofocus. And of course there a several digitals laying around, mostly Nikons.

Disclaimer: Recall that I have never claimed to be a photographer. Better said; I am a camera owner. 

The current scuderia in age order is;

'53 MG TD

'62 Triumph TR3b

'69 R-R Silver Shadow

'73 Jaguar E-Type

'73 Volvo 1800ES

'78 Lotus Esprit S2

'79 Ferrari 308GTB

'85 Ferrari Testarossa

'08 Porsche Cayman

'09 Toyota Highlander

There is a logic to these seemingly random cars. First of all, the later model 21st century cars, are the daily drivers. I don't even change the oil in these cars. They are major appliances, if expertly functioning appliances. The older cars are all cars that can mostly be maintained and serviced at home in the garage. The 308GTB uses electronic ignition but that's plug-n-play should anything go wrong. The Testarossa is the youngest of the lot and the least home garage friendly. Where clutch and cam belts on the 308GTB are Saturday afternoon sitting on the garage floor jobs, the Testarossa cam belt is engine-out, and God only knows what it takes to change a clutch! I don't care for that. My friend Neil's Mondial T, with the 348 drivetrain is a strong performer but I wouldn't want to own it. Too many NLA parts and almost beyond simple garage maintenance. Yea, I'm opinionated that way and I don't ask anyone else to agree. And just like my Timex garage watches are more precise than the older mechanical ones, and the digital cameras take higher resolution pictures than the old 35mm SLRs, the later model Ferraris (or whatever marque one wishes to insert there) are more reliable, quicker, safer, or whatever - and I just don't care for them, except perhaps as major appliances.

Happy Saturday,

-rick