Van Halen circa 1986
Being an old man (51 next month!) I am one of relatively few people in the UK who got to see the original line up of Van Halen the first time around... I mean, me and the other 80,000 people who attended the 1984 Monsters of Rock concert at Castle Donington - obviously! This was a rare UK performance for the band who had only previously visited the UK as a support act for Black Sabbath on their 1978 tour for the album 'Never Say Die'. This festival performance was of course off the back of Van Halen's diamond selling (certified 10M US Sales) album '1984', from whence came the hit songs 'Jump', 'Panama' and 'I'll Wait'.However, following this gargantuan success the band split with their larger than life vocalist David Lee Roth and in his place enlisted the services of one Sammy Hagar, late of the band Montrose and his own successful solo career which spawned the hit 'I Can't Drive 55'. In the process Van Halen unofficially became 'Van Hagar' and their music became more poppy and in tune with the mid 80s era. Needless to say, I was not overly impressed as by this time I was now 16 and had moved on to bigger and better things..
Meanwhile Van Hagar continued on (without me), with a number 1 album called '5150' (remarkably '1984' had only made it to the number two spot, kept at bay by Michael Jackson's ludicrously successful 'Thriller' album on which Eddie Van Halen played, coincidentally!) that sold a relatively 'disappointing' 6M units in the USA... they must have been devastated, huh? '5150' is probably best known for the hit single 'Why Can't this be Love' and true to form the band embarked on a World Tour that consisted of 114 dates, 111 of which were in the United States...
No joke, the other three dates were in Canada.
Anyway, by now you are probably wondering what on Earth this little trip down memory lane has got to do with anything at all? Well, it seems that TAG Heuer produced some '5150' Formula 1s. I don't know if this was given to the crew or the promoters or maybe sold at the merchandising booth? In fact I can't really tell you much about it at all other than that it is clearly a modified 380.513, with a 'V H 5150' dial.
I can tell you that it originally came in a long form cardboard box rather than the round plastic tub, which was perhaps a more practical storage solution for carrying on the road, or maybe they hadn't got around to making the plastic boxes just yet? Either way, this is a pretty unique piece of rock'n'roll history and one of the most surprising TAG Heuer collaborations we've seen yet.
More pics here:
Unfortunately I have no idea how much this sold for, I'm guessing the high hundreds given that a mint, boxed 380.513 would probably command $500+ on it's own... though I can't help but wonder if a thirty four year old watch that's still in the box and complete with crown stopper, might not contain a very dead and very leaky battery?
I have one - if you’re interested.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I think I have enough F1s, and I have the standard black yellow watch anyway. It's a cool piece of memeorabilia though!
DeleteRob
The original yellow and black one has a lot of sentimental value for me - I bought one from the PX the day I graduated boot camp and had that watch for years. It went thru several yellow, a grey and even a green strap - a new crystal .. then finally gave up the ghost. I bought this one - as new old stock - and it is probably the same one shown on Worthpoint. I’m not crazy about the VH 5150 - I’m kind of a purist that way and have never worn the watch. I have replaced the battery and have had the “movement” serviced. A lot of maintenance $$ for a watch I’ve never worn. The only info I have found online is archival and seems to be about the very watch I have. I have never seen another. Weird.
DeleteYes, I can only find this one piece of information too. Did you buy it because you like Van Halen or was it just you liked the watch and it happened to have the logo on it? I wonder if it was actually sold on the tour or whether it was given to roadies etc?
DeleteI'm interested. Email ccrebel2222@gmail.com
DeleteI've forwarded your email on to the owner of the watch
DeleteRegards
Rob
I bought it more for being a new/old replacement for my original one I purchased in 1988. At the time there didn’t seem to be many of the original still available let alone new with the same original slide case I had with my original one. BTW - all of the watches I saw in 1988 came in those slide cases ... the round clear ones came later or in different markets. The “VH 5150” looks a natural part of the watch too - not like it was added later. Still - I would have preferred a plain one - - - I wish I knew more about its provenance - or find more out there. Other than the face - there is nothing to distinguish the watch from any other 380.513 available at that time.
ReplyDeleteI will approah TAG Heuer on your behalf and see if I can get anywhere.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Rob
Thanks Rob - I may have to deepen my own research. Let me know if any new pictures would help.
ReplyDelete