The fast times of Albert Champion : from record-setting racer to dashing tycoon, an untold story of speed, success, and betrayal / Peter Joffre Nye.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nye, Peter, 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Champion, Albert, 1878-1927.

Champion, Albert.

Champion Spark Plug (Company).

Automobile supplies industry--United States--History.

Automobile supplies industry.

Racers (Persons)--France--Biography.

Racers (Persons).

Businessmen--France--Biography.

Businessmen.

History.

France.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

460 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2014.

Summary:

"This is the first biography of the short but exciting life of Albert Champion--record-setting bicyclist and motorcyclist, daredevil race car driver, early automobile innovator with thirty US patents, charismatic ladies' man, and celebrity of the Jazz Age. Though most Americans have heard of the two companies he founded--Champion Spark Plug and ACDelco--few know much about the flamboyant man behind the companies. The book's lively narrative describes the many adventures of the Frenchman who rose from poverty in Paris to great wealth and fame in both his native France and the United States. As a bicycle racer, Champion set more than a hundred world records. When the urban speed limit was 8 mph, he was the first ever to drive a motorcycle a mile under a minute. Then a car-racing crash in Brooklyn snapped a leg bone that kept him in traction for eleven weeks. Handicapped but undeterred, he hobbled out of the hospital on crutches and recovered to win the French national cycling championship. He subsequently invested his prize money to become a tycoon in the American auto industry, working closely with the leading players in this new revolutionary industry. Good-looking and a natty dresser, he was an incorrigible ladies' man whose many dalliances finally ended in a love triangle that resulted in his death under mysterious circumstances"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Balancing on One Wheel 13

Chapter 2 The Fearless Knight 23

Chapter 3 A Beautiful Devil 35

Chapter 4 The "Human Catapult" 45

Chapter 5 A New Century, Another Country, a Fresh Start 77

Chapter 6 "Pacemakers Killed" 107

Chapter 7 America's Fastest Man on Wheels 131

Chapter 8 "Nearly Killed at Brighton!" 181

Chapter 9 National Champion of France 207

Chapter 10 Debut of Champion Spark Plugs 237

Chapter 11 The Name Game 265

Chapter 12 Champion and Chevrolet Smashup 283

Chapter 13 Fighting Chances 303

Chapter 14 Stars and Stripes Capture the Grand Prix de France 321

Chapter 15 A Storm That Breaks Loose 335

Chapter 16 Permanent Parisian 347

Chapter 17 The Lowdown 359.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781616149642

1616149647

OCLC:

882464147

Online:

Cover image