Friday, December 03, 2021

Mario Andretti The Hodinkee Interview






...Rolex Super-Coolness...


Mario Andretti

The Hodinkee Interview


Hodinkee published this super cool interview with Mario Andretti, back April of 2018 and it is AMAZING! The reason I just updated and am republishing the article is because Nick Gould discovered a significant piece of the missing puzzle which shows Mario Andretti rocking his Rolex Day-Date while taking a photo of Lotus Founder and Formula 1 Racing Pioneer, Colin Chapman. Watch spotting is really a scientific process more than anything. 

Colin Chapman with Mario Andretti rocking Rolex Day-Date back in the 1970s. 
I think Mario is holding a Nikon F or a Pentax K1000 35MM Camera.


Once we discover photos of people wearing a certain model we tend to take it for granted, but often times it can take years or even decades to discover a photo of a certain person wearing a certain watch, and that is what we see here for the first time. I would know as I have been searching for a photo of Andretti for decades wearing his Day-Date and this is the first time we see one.

Mario Andretti is considered to be on of the greatest if not the greatest racing legends that have ever lived.




During the video, Hodinkee's Jon Bues discussed Mario Andretti's Rolex Daytona which is seen below close up.





In the photo above of Mario Andretti's watch collection, we see his Rolex Daytona next to a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date which they don't discuss in the interview or in the article for some strange reason!?!!


I assume Mario Andretti's yellow gold Rolex Day-Date pictured above is the same one pictured below in the 1976 Mario Andretti Rolex Day-Date Ad, which is very cool. I further assume it's the same one pictured at the top of this story which Nick Gould recently discovered. Hat's off to Nick "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner" Gould for finally making a positive ID on this previously elusive Rolex!!!



The documentary below on Mario Andretti was filmed the same year as the Mario Andretti Rolex add pictured above from 1976 was originally published.





Paul Newman Rolex Day-Date!?!?!?



I was surprised, as Paul Newman is renowned for wearing at least five different Rolex Daytona models, as well as having worn a stainless steel Rolex Datejust, which I documented in detail in "The Complete History Of The Paul Newman Daytona". 



In the photos below we see Paul Newman wearing his iconic stainless steel Daytona that has a white exotic dial.




If you are a reader of Jake's Rolex World you know that Paul Newman's famous Rolex Daytona recently sold for close to $18 Million.



Late last year, on December 4th of 2017, I published a story that finally solved the mystery of Paul Newman's President bracelet, which can be seen in the photo below. This story revealed that Paul Newman somehow fitted a Rolex President bracelet to his black dial Rolex Daytona, which was fascinating.