1980s Auto Racing Lives Again Through This Affordable Analog-Digital Watch

It’s been a while since we’ve had an all-new watch from Autodromo, with the Group C digital watch in 2023 being the brand’s most recent. I honestly was a little concerned that Autodromo had fully transitioned from a watchmaker to a lifestyle brand, as it just seemed far less involved in the watch enthusiast community than it once was.

But all my worrying was for naught, as today Autodromo launched its first brand-new watch in three years with the Group C Turbo Sport, an absolutely killer ana-digi throwback that looks like it time-traveled from the late 1980s.

Autodromo

Back to the future

Like the previous all-digital Group C, the Group C Turbo Sport draws its inspiration from the sports car racing series of the same name that ran from the 1980s through the early ’90s, specifically the turbocharged cars of the era.

The analog-digital layout of the dial effectively splits its inspiration between cars and watches from the time period. The analog display taking up the top 3/4 of the dial is meant to resemble the tachometers of Group C cars and features a debossed grid pattern coupled with high-contrast syringe hands and stick indices/minute track in matching bright shades of Super-LumiNova.

Autodromo

Above 6:00 is a new Group C logo that resembles an ’80s car marque above a deliciously retro “Turbosport Chrono” wordmark that looks like something you’d see on an early Timex Ironman.

Below these logos is an LCD window providing the “digi” aspect of this ana-digi watch. It features a trio of functions with dual time zones, an alarm and, most fittingly for a motorsports watch, a chronograph capable of timing a lap down to 1/100th of a second. The display also features a backlight to complement the lume of the analog dial.

Autodromo

The case is quite interesting. Its smooth cushion shape reads more 1970s than 1980s, and it strongly resembles the case of Autodromo’s now-extinct chronograph, the Prototipo. But instead of being made of steel as you’d expect, the case is actually anodized aluminum.

This not only makes the watch very lightweight, but it should also make it feel more like a product of the ’80s. As Autodromo says, it’s the “watch you dreamed of as a kid — built for the adult you are today.”

The aluminum case is anodized in three different colors: Silver, Gold and Gray, which is a dark charcoal that looks pretty close to black. There are four pushers for controlling all the watch’s functions, with two on the left side of the case in black, one at 3:00 color-matched to each case and one at 4:00 in a fun accent color (red on the Gray, blue on the other two).

Autodromo

The caseback is in stainless steel, and it’s vertically brushed and features sharp-looking paint-filled versions of both the Group C and Turbo Sport logos. It’s secured in place with four screws, helping the watch meet its 50m water-resistance rating. The crystal is sapphire, and the case measures a wearable 38.5mm across, 40mm long and 11.4mm thick.

Autodromo doesn’t list the movement on the product page, but according to Hodinkee, the watch actually uses two separate quartz movements. A Miyota handles the analog timekeeping, while the nondescript quartz module operates the LCD display.

There are a couple of downsides to this presumably more affordable setup. For one, the timekeeping between the analog and digital displays isn’t linked, meaning they could drift out of sync over time. Secondly, each movement requires its own separate battery.

Autodromo

Lastly, the strap looks pretty premium for Autodromo, and the brand declares it its most comfortable ever. It’s made of supple FKM rubber with a stitched nylon inlay on the top; a very modern style of strap to go with what is a very retro watch.

Availability and pricing

Autodromo has always operated in the affordable realm, even if the brand’s watches sometimes seemed a smidge more expensive than they ought to be. However, I’m happy to report that the Group C Turbo Sport actually costs less than what I was expecting.

The watch retails for just $450 in any of the three colorways, though if you ask me, the Gray is the only logical choice here. Not only does its color combination look the best by far, but it also has the most lume of the bunch, with all dial text lumed up in addition to the entire minute track.

All options are available now on Autodromo’s website.

Autodromo

Autodromo Group C Turbo Sport

Specs

Case Size	38.5mm
Movement	Dual quartz movements
Water Resistance	50m

• $450 at Autodromo

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Related Topics