In a 2016 interview at Melbourne’s Motorclassica, Chad and Chase McQueen described how the Heuer Monaco connects Steve McQueen’s screen legacy with the family’s later relationship with TAG Heuer. Chase spoke about learning about a grandfather he never met; Chad explained why he wears a Monaco but keeps his father’s Rolexes safely stored.
What Chad and Chase McQueen said about Steve McQueen’s legacy
Time+Tide’s Andy Green met Chad McQueen, Steve McQueen’s son, and Chase McQueen, his grandson, at the 2016 Motorclassica in Melbourne. The meeting was arranged in connection with TAG Heuer. During the event, Chase also looked at the Monaco’s inner workings with a TAG Heuer watchmaker.
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Chase said he had never had the chance to meet his grandfather, so learning about him through the watch and through people his own age mattered. As he put it, “It’s pretty interesting for me to see and to be able to learn about him.” He also said, “I love the heritage behind these TAGs, and the Monaco especially, and my family.” Those comments express Chase’s personal connection to the watch and his family; they are not evidence of broader public opinion.
Chad saw the continuing response to his father as part of why the TAG Heuer relationship made sense. In the interview, he said, “Dad’s been gone 36 years now, but he resonates strongly today.” That was his recollection in 2016, not a current count of years since Steve McQueen’s death.
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Why the Monaco is linked to Steve McQueen
The Monaco’s connection to Steve McQueen comes from the 1971 film Le Mans. TAG Heuer’s account says the square, water-resistant chronograph collection launched in 1969 and was among the first commercially available automatic chronographs. The brand reports that six Heuer Monaco reference 1133B watches were supplied for the film set.
TAG Heuer also cautions that it is difficult to identify precisely which example McQueen wore on screen. The documented connection is between the Monaco reference and the film production; it does not establish that a particular surviving serial-numbered watch is definitively the sole screen-worn example. The brand’s account appears in its 2024 article on Sotheby’s Heuer Champions thematic cataloguing.
Chad McQueen on wearing watches, not collecting them
Chad drew a distinction between watches he wears and those he keeps for their personal meaning. “I wear TAG, but I’m not a watch collector,” he told Green. He said he keeps two of his father’s Rolex Submariners in a safe because they are valuable and sentimental, while he likes the Monaco as an everyday watch.
Chad described wearing the Monaco hard: “I can wear it every day, I beat the sh-t out of it, and it keeps on ticking.” This is his characterization in the 2016 interview, not a durability test or a specification claim. Asked about seeing a Monaco on someone else’s wrist, he connected the sight to his father’s continuing resonance and called the TAG campaign a good partnership.
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How the vintage Heuer Monaco differs from a current TAG Heuer Monaco
The names refer to related but distinct product contexts. Heuer introduced the Monaco in 1969, before the company became TAG Heuer. The company history says Techniques d’Avant-Garde took ownership in 1985, marking the transition to the TAG Heuer name. TAG Heuer’s official timeline lists “1969 – Monaco and McQueen” among its milestones and says the new model captured attention as an automatic chronograph.
| Context | What the sources establish |
|---|---|
| Film-linked watch | TAG Heuer identifies vintage Heuer Monaco reference 1133B examples as supplied for the Le Mans set; it reports six examples and says the exact screen-worn watch is difficult to determine. |
| Contemporary model | TAG Heuer’s editorial page links to the current Monaco Chronograph reference CAW211P.FC6356. That product identity does not make it the vintage film watch. |
For the company chronology, see TAG Heuer’s official history, “Our history, our legacy – From 1860 to Now”. Its history dates Edouard Heuer’s establishment of the company to 1860 and describes the Monaco alongside the Autavia and Carrera as 1969 automatic chronographs. The vintage and current product references are presented in the brand’s Monaco and McQueen article.
The family’s racing legacy beyond the 2016 conversation
A later, separate family interview adds context without being part of Chad and Chase’s 2016 remarks. In a Porsche Newsroom interview published March 26, 2021, Madison McQueen said Chad founded McQueen Racing eleven years earlier and had passed his interest in Porsche and racing to his children. Madison named Le Mans as a favorite film and Matt Stone’s McQueen’s Machines as a favorite book. Those details come from Porsche Newsroom’s interview with Madison McQueen.
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