SLAZENGER VILAS TOUR FRAME Photos
- Thread starter gpt
- Start date
gpt
Professional
thanks jimbo
i haven't thought about a website
wouldn't know where to start but you have given me something to think about
i like putting the pics together, takes my mind of work
btw, seeing as you are in the uk, do you (or anyone else) know anything about vilas' contract with slazenger being scrapped with the advent of the falklands war with argentina? i seem to remember reading that both parties agreed to dissolve the deal due to anti argentine sentiment.
i haven't thought about a website
wouldn't know where to start but you have given me something to think about
i like putting the pics together, takes my mind of work
btw, seeing as you are in the uk, do you (or anyone else) know anything about vilas' contract with slazenger being scrapped with the advent of the falklands war with argentina? i seem to remember reading that both parties agreed to dissolve the deal due to anti argentine sentiment.
Last edited:
jimbo333
Hall of Fame
I have no idea about if Falklands War was an influence on Vilas scrapping his contract with Slazenger, although I guess timing would be right, and it would make sense as Slazenger was a very British company at that time, and Vilas was very proud of his Argentine background!
And the photos are great, so I hope you keep going with them, it's interesting how some turn into lengthy threads and some no replys at all!
gpt
Professional
i will keep doing them when i get the time ( i work odd hours)
even if people dont reply they still view them
apart from the fact that i enjoy taking the photos and putting them together, some 13 year old kid who has never heard of a player (ellsworth vines for example) might see the photos, and look him up and might save an old racquet they come across somewhere that might have been lost forever
judging by some of the posts on this board you would think tennis started in 1995
so if a few pics generate some interest in older players and racquets then it's worth putting them up
thanks again for your kind words, at least I know you like seeing them
hopefully we can see some photos of your racquets soon
even if people dont reply they still view them
apart from the fact that i enjoy taking the photos and putting them together, some 13 year old kid who has never heard of a player (ellsworth vines for example) might see the photos, and look him up and might save an old racquet they come across somewhere that might have been lost forever
judging by some of the posts on this board you would think tennis started in 1995
so if a few pics generate some interest in older players and racquets then it's worth putting them up
thanks again for your kind words, at least I know you like seeing them
hopefully we can see some photos of your racquets soon
Grafil Injection
Legend
From a distance the Slazenger Vilas Club model looks quite like the Vilas Tour, and hence since it's a similarly great design, I thought it would be best to mention it here. After a bit of research I found that the Club model was the replacement for the Argentina. In 1981 Slazenger released the Tour, the International (red shoulders) and the Argentina with its blue & white national flag colours. The Tour has 3/4 length fibreglass facings probably making it the stiffest, as you can see above, and the International and Argentina had the traditional all wood construction with notably thick crescent shoulder reinforcements. But due to the Falklands dispute in early 1982, the Argentina was hastily rebranded as the Club model, whilst the Tour and International continued.
What's also interesting is the Club is 26.75'' just like the Tour (and V-24), so it seems like that is how Slazenger distinguished the Vilas range, given that all their other sticks were 27''. It makes me wonder if, although the retail Head Vilas is 27'', his actual versions were cut down. It's quite a nice style of play - a weighty stick made a bit more manoeuvrable. My Club comes in at a fairly normal 390g, but a seriously beefy 35.5cm balance (4pt HH). Doing the maths, it would be about 435g if balanced at 32.5cm. It certainly seems well named, feeling rather stable, with no flutter and a menacing plow-through.
What's also interesting is the Club is 26.75'' just like the Tour (and V-24), so it seems like that is how Slazenger distinguished the Vilas range, given that all their other sticks were 27''. It makes me wonder if, although the retail Head Vilas is 27'', his actual versions were cut down. It's quite a nice style of play - a weighty stick made a bit more manoeuvrable. My Club comes in at a fairly normal 390g, but a seriously beefy 35.5cm balance (4pt HH). Doing the maths, it would be about 435g if balanced at 32.5cm. It certainly seems well named, feeling rather stable, with no flutter and a menacing plow-through.
I am so dying to grab one of these.
Anyone has a super clean Vilas Tour (as in the first pic) in the US in L4 or L5, I will trade you a Head Trisys 280 L5 MIA w/ a new leather grip and extra grommet set, equally clean. Or I have other stuff, or $$$. I've got to get one of these things!
Anyone has a super clean Vilas Tour (as in the first pic) in the US in L4 or L5, I will trade you a Head Trisys 280 L5 MIA w/ a new leather grip and extra grommet set, equally clean. Or I have other stuff, or $$$. I've got to get one of these things!
Grafil Injection
Legend
You definitely do! In the meantime, here's your daily fix! I noticed that the Slazenger name on the Tour reads correctly for a left-hander like Guillermo, whereas on the Club it reads correctly for a right-hander like most people:
Last edited:
