Foray for Faure

Researching record-breaking Velocars

Arnfried Schmitz

Francis Faure, twice holder of the cycling world hour record on a Velocar recumbent, came from Ambert, a small town in  central France. It stands on the east bank of the River Dore, in the Parc Régional Livradois Forez, between the big cities of Clermont-Ferrand and St Etienne.  Faure’s successes were achieved in the 1930s, before the sport’s governing body changed the rules specifically to eliminate recumbent bicycles. I noticed in the French cycling press that there is a cycle dealer in Ambert called Jacky Faure. Could he be related to his famous namesake, who also ran a cycle shop in the town, back in the fifties? I was passing through the area and decided to investigate.
 
Ambert has an excellent industrial museum, with a wonderful collection of agricultural and steam-driven machinery, including railway engines. There is, however, no sign of a Velocar and nobody knows anything about Ambert’s famous son, Francis Faure. Likewise, the tourist office can tell me nothing about him. They do tell me, though, how to find Jacky Faure’s cycle shop: it’s a large store on an avenue on the outskirts of town.
 
So I track down Jacky, who is very busy. Disappointingly, he turns out not to be related to Francis Faure. But, this cloud does have a silver lining - Francis Faure’s daughter is a neighbour of Jacky’s. I soon have her address and set off to see if I can meet her.
 
When I arrive at her house, I find she’s not at home. Her bored-looking husband is, though. He is delighted to meet me. Yes, he says, Francis Faure was my father-in-law. When he died, he left us the magnificent and enormous trophy, the challenge cup for the fastest man of the hour on a bike.
 
And there it is, before me - a massive, glittering, silver trophy, half-a-metre high, donated by Charles Mochet, ‘father’ of the Velocar. Engraved on it are the names of all the famous winners - Desgranges, Berthet, Egg and, of course, Faure, in both 1933 and 1939. If only I had brought a camera...
 
Then Madame arrives home. She’s a very energetic lady but suspicious of this stranger. Yes, she says, I rode the Velocar when I was a 12-year-old girl. Soon after that, the whole Faure family embarked on a ship in Le Havre, emigrating to a better life in Australia. But sadly, it was the day the French army was mobilised and her father, Francis, was recalled to be a soldier.
 
I ask her if she has any documentation about her father’s involvement with the Velocar. Perhaps she knows where the record-breaking machines ended up? “No, my younger brother has all the papers and knows where the record-breaking Velocars are. But he cannot be disturbed today, as his apartment is being renovated.”
 
I’m particularly interested in the record-breaking Velocars because, some years ago, I met a guy at a car and motorcycle jumble. We got chatting about Velocars and he suddenly said, “I’ve got the actual record-breaking Velocar used by Francis Faure.” But he would not say if it was the 1933 or the 1939 one. Nor would he give his address or any other details. He promised to bring the machine to the next year’s jumble, so that I could photograph it, but I never saw him again. Jacky Faure, the cycle dealer, also knew about one or two of Francis’s bikes but added, “the guy plans to open a bike museum and is not living here.”
 
Later, Henri Faure, son of Francis, sends me a poor photocopy of an article from a local newspaper dated 25th July 1986. It briefly describes Francis Faure’s career with the Velocar and shows him riding one back in the 1930s. It also shows Henri demonstrating a recumbent bike built by his father. This had rigid handlebars and you steered by twisting the handlebar grips to operate a cable linkage. The only advantage this seems to offer is to deter potential thieves.
 
Henri Faure had been told that the record-breaking Velocar was in a Paris museum. There may be some confusion here, as I know that Georges Mochet (son of Charles) was asked for a blueprint, so that a replica of the 1939 faired Velocar could be built for the Musée des Metiers et de l’Industrie in Paris.
 
So, my research proved interesting yet frustrating. There is so much more still to be discovered about the remarkable Francis Faure and his involvement with the Velocar.