INTRO
Time fast II by L'Epée 1839: Life in the Fast Lane !
The 1960s were a golden age for sports car performance and sleek sensual design. Sports car racing features cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels, and they usually run over relatively large distances so there is an emphasis on reliability and efficiency.
In celebration of this golden era of racing, L’Epée 1839 introduces Time Fast II, a V8 racing thoroughbred clock faithfully replicating much of the technology and design that made racing sports cars of the 1960s so appealing.
THE STORY
Posters of sleek fast cars were stappled on the walls of many teenagers’ bedrooms. And sleek racing cars don’t come much better looking than the racing sports cars from the 1960s.
Sports car racing in the 1960s was responsible for the now mythical reputations of racetracks like Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona. And it cemented the reputations of many well known and prestigious car brands .
Time Fast II is built on a H-chassis in aluminum as the racing cars were back then. A three-spoke steering wheel (that sets the time) is made just like those of the real sport cars. Likewise, the spoked stainless wheels are meticulously crafted just like the originals, and their soft compound rubber tires are filled with special foam to replicate the pressure of tires on their full-sized racing counterparts.
And in a nod to the ultimate in authenticity, the tires on Time Fast II rest slightly flat on the bottom, just as they are in reality.
Time Fast II is inspired by racing sports cars of the 1960s, a golden era of long-distance automotive competition.
The name Time Fast II references the fact that it’s a 2-seater car, has two movements (one for time and one for the engine automate), racing cars are getting faster, modern time seems to be running faster, and it is L’Epée’s second car inspired clock.
The time displays (hours and minutes) of the manufacture 8-day movement are on the dual air filters feeding the V8’s two banks of carburetors.
INSIGHTS
The floor and body are screwed to a H-chassis as in their full-sized counterparts. The body of Time Fast II is in aluminum because in the 1960s, aluminum was the high-tech material for racing cars as carbon fiber is today. An aluminum body on a race car offers a higher power-to-weight ratio, shorter braking distances, and faster cornering: all winning attributes in a sports car.
Time Fast II features two independent movements, both with their own power source. The first movement is in the cockpit and is responsible for keeping the time. Hours and minutes are displayed by rotating stainless steel disks on the air filters feeding the dual carburetor banks on top of the engine. The 8-day movement is regulated by a visible 2.5 Hertz escapement in the ‘driver’s helmet’ and powered by a mainspring visible in the passenger’s ‘seat’.
The second movement powers the engine automat. Turning the dashboard key starts the engine, triggering the pistons of the V8 to go up and down. This animation is completely independent of the time movement.
A manual gear lever selects between winding the time movement, winding the engine automate or neutral. Winding is accomplished by selecting the appropriate gear and pulling the car backwards.
The three-spoke steering wheel is assembled just as the original steering wheels were, with a center rim and two outer rims held together by 12 rivets. The steering wheel is turned counterclockwise to set the time, while turning clockwise allows repositioning of the wheel to center.
Highlighting just how much meticulous attention to detail L’Epée put into ensuring that Time Fast II is as accurate as possible to the cars that inspired it, the stainless-steel spoked wheel rims are crafted just like the real racing wheels were in the 1960s. The tires are in soft rubber for optimal grip when winding the movements and filled with a carefully selected foam compound so that the tires are slightly flat on the bottom to the same degree as real sport’s car racing tires on a real car racing track.
The time display
The pilot, steering wheel and gear box
The engine animation
The dashboard with the contact key
SPECIFICATIONS
EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITION
Limited edition of 99 pieces per color: "Ferrari" Red, British racing green, "Mercedes" silver, "AC cobra" blue with white stripes, and White with blue stripes
DIMENTIONS & WEIGHT
Dimensions: 450 mm long, 189 mm wide, 120 mm high
Weight: 4.7 kg
FUNCTIONS
Hour and minute displays on rotating disks
Time is set via counterclockwise rotation of the steering wheel, clockwise rotation repositions the steering wheel as desired
The clock is wound using the rear wheels
Reversing the car (and rotating the rear wheels) winds the mainspring barrels
A gear box lever selects which movement barrel is wound during winding
Time Fast II moves freely forwards and backwards in neutral
The key on the dashboard starts the engine piston automat
ENGINE / MOVEMENT
Tiered mechanical movement, L’Epée 1839 1855 MHD in-house caliber
Escapement: 2.5 Hz/18,000 bph
26 jewels
Power reserve: 8-days
Materials: Palladium-plated brass, polished stainless steel,
Incabloc protection system
BODYWORK & WHEELS
Blown glass dome, machined and polished to simulate the driver’s helmet
Top and bottom bodywork in aluminum
12-spoked rims in stainless-steel
Tires in soft compound rubber with foam inside offering authentic deformation of the tire on the ground
MATERIALS & FINISHINGS
Materials: palladium-plated brass, stainless steel, anodized aluminum
Finishes: Polished, satin-finished and sand-blasted movement / polished and satin-finished rims / lacquered bodywork
