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| 1982: The Jaeger atop the dashboard of my '73 VW van. |
Still dealing with instruments on the dashboard. This
time it is the Jaeger 8-day rally clock mounted in the center of the dash.
After
The Alfatross was no longer drivable in the 1970s, it seemed like Jaeger Voyant clock was
going to waste. So I took it out and discovered that although it was pretty shabby-looking,
it was still perfectly functional. I marveled at how smooth and
symmetrical the hole in the dash was, and assumed that the Jaeger must have been
“original equipment” for The Alfatross in 1955.. I made a bracket and mounted it on the dash of my 1973 VW
van where it lived for the next 30 years, impatiently timing the VW’s snail-like progress during many a cross-country adventure.
During that time, I never really thought about what clues
it could provide for the Alfatross’ early history, even when I had it restored
in 2013 at Masterpiece Watch Restoration LLC in preparation for re-installation.
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| The Alfatross' Jaeger Voyant chronometer. |
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| A US Air Force A10 A Jaeger chronometer from WWII. |
Just this week I started doing that.
At first I did not even know what to call it, exactly. That made trying to
research it difficult. Starting with the
Jaeger name, “fabriqué en Suisse”, and
the puzzling model name “Voyant” (“seeing” in French), I swiftly discovered
that the company has been building timepieces of all types since 1833, putting clocks
in automobiles almost since the first car was invented, and putting highly
accurate and durable elapsed-time chronometers in aircraft and ships since
before WWII. Some authorities call this type of clock a “Chronoflight”,
obviously referring to its aviation forbear. The more I learned, the more I
was impressed.
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| An identical Jaeger Voyant mounted in a 1959 Ferrari |
The Jaeger is more than just a pretty dashboard
decoration. I found an image on the Web of the exact same rally chronometer
mounted in the console of a 1959 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Speciale.
The clock face carries three separate dials. The
perimeter dial bears 3 hands for tracking seconds, minutes, and hours, accurate
to 1/5 second. The upper interior dial tracks hours clockwise with one hand, the lower tracks minutes counter clockwise with two hands. Both
interior dials have round windows displaying red or green to indicate whether
they are in operation or stopped. The button on the left winds the spring when
pushed in, and sets the clock when pulled out. The button on the right starts the clock, freezes it, and returns it back to 60.
Although 1900CSSZs were all “special order” cars, whether or not the Jaeger could have been original equipment needs more research. An equally likely explanation is that one of
The Alfatross’ previous owners added it. Either way it is yet another indication that the car was raced
or, more likely, rallied during the 14 years between its creation and when I
ended up with it. Another possibly related mystery is an incomplete lighting
fixture mounted to the frame on the passenger’s side beneath the dash—evidence of
a rally light for a navigator?
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| Mystery light fixture mount back. |
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| Mystery light fixture front. |
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| Mystery light fixture socket. |
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| The Jaeger Voyant chronometer back where it belongs in The Alfatross' dash. |
Whether the Jaeger was “original equipment” in 1955 or not, it is part of The Alfatross’ story and a clue to how it spent those missing 14 years. Now time can finally fly!
