At the starting line of the Tour Auto 2014 (new Classic Fusion LE inside)

Apr 07, 2014,14:00 PM
 

One of my biggest pleasures in April is to attend the event at the Grand Palais which celebrates the start of the Tour Auto. I remind you that the Tour Auto is a competition which lasts a small week and which mixes  "true races" and regularity contests per category. But the main characteristic of this event is that the cars involved are classic cars including some very rare ones.

Let's take an example: this year, a very rare Ferrari Breadvan who participated at the Le Mans race in 1962 was amongst the constestants' cars. It was for me a great surprise to see it since I didn't know its existence before...

There was obviously another reason for my presence on the starting line: the ability to see the new Hublot watch which is the official piece of the event. Last year, Hublot unveiled a Classic Fusion chronograph with a white dial. It was a very important watch for Hublot because it celebrated the first year of the partnership between the brand and the event.

This year, the recipe is basically the same but with a black dial.

The official watch of the Tour Auto 2014 is a Classic Fusion chronograph with a titanium case. its  dial combines  satin-finished black sunrays for its main part, vertical red, white and blue stripes (a nod to the French flag) and two silver subdials with satin-finished sunrays. The interesting point is that the stripes are extended on the calfskin strap what creates a nice visual effect (the same trick was used last year).

The result at the end is very different visual speaking from last year watch: the 2013 watch made me think about a pure summer watch thanks to its bright colours. The 2014 watch is more elegant, maybe more refined. You just play with the colours... and you get opposite feelings!

The watch is powered by the HUB1143 modular movement using a Dubois-Dépraz module. The frequency is 4hz and the power reserve around 42 hours.

Let's browse some pics of this watch:


You can see the high contrast between the main part of the dial and the subdials:




The second hand of the chronograph has the same colour than the main hands:




The stripes don't stop once they reach the bezel...




The solid caseback is the same than last year. This year, the watch is also limited to 100 pieces.




On the wrist... due to its dark dial and the width of the bezel, the Classic Fusion Tour Auto 2014 looks a bit smaller than it is actually (45mm).




In front of the Hublot booth:




And the artistic (well... I tried!) picture of the evening:




Nos, let's have a look of the stars of the show... the cars!

Please find below a selection of pictures I took during the evening. Sorry to not elaborate the story of each car but the specialists here will be much more efficient than me to do so...

This is also a machine...
















































French actor, Jean Rochefort:
































The Ferrari Breadvan:















The Hublot booth:








I didn't know this BMW:




























































































But time passes... and the night is falling down...




I would like to thank a lot Hublot for the invitation!

Fr.Xavier

This message has been edited by foversta on 2014-04-07 14:05:15


More posts: Big BangBigger BangBMWChronographClassic FusionFerrari

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Wow, first time to see this model...

 
 By: KIH : April 7th, 2014-14:17
.. and what a collection of the wonderful cars! I like the line on the dial extending to the strap! Thanks for the report, Fx! Ken

You will find pictures of the first version...

 
 By: foversta : April 7th, 2014-14:36
here: Thanks Ken! Fx

Ferrari

 
 By: Spellbound : April 7th, 2014-14:47
Some breathtaking entries from the prancing horse. One day I would love to join the tour in a Cooper Climax. The watch reminds of another watch in the LVMH portfolio a couple of years back. Great pictures, Dean ...  

You are right Dean!

 
 By: foversta : April 9th, 2014-13:27
The LVMH touch? ;) Fx

So many amazing cars...

 
 By: patrick_y : April 8th, 2014-20:12
I still like the Hublot Ferrari watch more than this latest limited edition. And I still like the Hublot ultra thin watch. That's a great value for a fairly interesting movement. But look at the cars! I have never seen #243 before. The Aston Martin with b...