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Albert Champion (5 April 1878 – 26 October 1927) was a French track bicycle racer and later an industrialist who won the 1899
Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...
. In 1905 he incorporated the Albert Champion Company in Boston to make porcelain spark plugs with his name on them. Three years later founded the Champion Ignition Company in
Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...
.Buickcity - 2008/03 Champion Ignition Company
/ref> In 1922 he changed the name to AC Spark Plug Company, after his initials, to settle out of court with his original partners in the Albert Champion Company. The company is now known as
ACDelco ACDelco is an American automotive parts brand owned by General Motors (GM). Factory parts for vehicles manufactured by GM are consolidated under the ACDelco brand, which also offers aftermarket parts for non-GM vehicles. Over its long history it ...
and is owned by
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
.


Cycling

Champion was a racing cyclist at the end of the 19th century. His win in Paris–Roubaix came as a surprise because he had been known as a
velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...
rider. After Champion won Paris-Roubaix he received a contract from a bicycle manufacturer in Boston to race in America for the 1900 season. The offer coincided with Champion's receiving orders to report for compulsory
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, which could have meant up to seven years in the army. Champion raced behind motor-powered tandems during the 1900 season on outdoor board velodromes in cities from Boston to New York and down the east coast to Atlanta. He competed against riders such as
Jimmy Michael Jimmy Michael (18 August 1877 – 21 November 1904) was a Welsh world cycling champion and one of the top riders in the sport for several years. Origins Jimmy Michael was tall. He was born in Aberaman, Cynon Valley, Wales. His parents had a b ...
and Bobby Walthour Sr. Three years later, he had won 100 races in America and imported a four-cylinder motorcycle from Paris. On July 12, 1903, Champion piloted his 350-pound French motorcycle around an outdoor board track in Cambridge Massachusetts, on what is now the MIT Campus. He drove a mile in 58.8 seconds, a world record on a motorcycle around an elliptical track. He crashed driving a Packard Grey Wolf in a car race in October 1903 and snapped his femur in a compound fracture. He spent months in a New York hospital, finally leaving with one leg two inches shorter than the other. He hobbled out of the hospital on crutches and during his recovery made up his mind to enter the new auto industry. By June 1904, he returned to his native Paris to raise money and found a company in Boston importing French electrical parts. Coping with his shortened leg by using cranks of different lengths, he won the Grand Prix of Paris 50 km motorpace race on the Buffalo Velodrome and then the 100-kilometer motorpace championship on the
Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
track by beating specialists such as defending national champion Henri Contenet and the "blond Adonis", Émile Bouhours. The race reopened the injury to his leg. He was taken to the where he was operated on to remove several bone chips.


Paris–Roubaix

The 1899 Paris–Roubaix was paced by automobiles and motor-tricycles. That was to attract
velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...
riders, who were accustomed to motorpacing (see ''The Fast Times of Albert Champion''). The race took place on a still day, 2 April, with 32 riders. They included the prominent road riders who had won earlier editions,
Maurice Garin Maurice-François Garin (; 3 March 1871 – 19 February 1957) was an Italian then French road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903, and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with ...
and Josef Fischer and track specialists such as Champion, Émile Bohours and Paul Bor. What the track riders had gained through experience in paced riding, they lost in inexperience of the cobbles and other bad road surfaces that constituted Paris–Roubaix. Champion, still age 20 (he turned 21 on April 5), was an outsider, but the others chased when he broke away alone soon after the start. Only Bouhours could come close to catching him, getting to within a minute at
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, at half distance. But Bouhours' hope of catching him ended when his pacer hit a spectator crossing the road. After Champion reached
Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...
, he was slowed to a walking pace riding the worst of the cobbles. Nye documents that Champion fell seven times but quickly got back up and remounted his bike. At the velodrome in
Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
he still had 23 minutes on Bor and
Ambroise Garin Ambroise Garin (10 May 1875, Arviers – 31 March 1969) was an Italy, Italian-born French people, French professional Cycle sport, bicycle racer. Garin competed as a professional cyclist from 1899–1903, and lived at Argenteuil, Val-d'Oise until ...
, brother of Maurice. Champion finished in 8h 22m 53s, slow by comparison to Maurice Garin, who won the 1898 race in 10 minutes less despite bad weather.


Motor products

Champion became interested in gas-combustion engines and car racing while he was in the USA. In the summer of 1904 he moved back to France and won the national 100-kilometer motor-pace race on the Parc des Princes outdoor cement track. He retired from cycling at the end of the summer. He remained in Paris to work in car factories, including one founded by his friend Edouard Nieuport, who manufactured Nieuport spark plugs and magnetos, credited with helping drivers win the biggest road races. Champion returned to America and incorporated the Albert Champion Company in June 1905 in Boston's South End, in the landmark
Cyclorama Building Cyclorama Building may refer to: * Cyclorama Building (Boston), built in 1884 in Boston, Massachusetts * Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum, built in 1885 in Atlanta, Georgia *Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg The Cyclorama Building at Gettysb ...
, to import French electrical parts, including Nieuport components. Champion presided as president of the Albert Champion Company with partners Frank D. Stranahan as treasurer and younger brother Spencer Stranahan as clerk. By 1907 The Albert Champion Company was manufacturing porcelain spark plugs with the name Champion stamped on the side, Robert Stranahan, the youngest of the Stranahan brothers, finished his classes at Harvard, ahead of his class of 1908, and went to work in the stockroom. Late in the summer of 1908, Champion met William Durant at Durant's Boston Buick dealership. Durant, impressed with the spark plugs, persuaded Champion to move to Flint and supply his spark plugs to Flint. A week after Champion arrived in Flint—accompanied by his wife, youngest brother Prosper Champion, and a dozen French compatriots—Durant incorporated General Motors and quickly purchased Cadillac and Oldsmobile motor companies. Champion incorporated the Champion Ignition Company, in Lansing, Michigan in October 1908. His first office was on the top floor of Buick factory 1. Champion's earlier partners, the Stranahan brothers, moved to Toledo, Ohio, and in 1910 incorporated the Champion Spark Plug Company in Wilmington, Delaware, as Nye documents. The Stranahans sued Albert Champion and his Champion Ignition Company over his name and the suit dragged on in federal district court. Champion finally settled out of court in 1922 and changed the name of his company to AC Spark Plug Company, after his initials, To this day, both names survive as
ACDelco ACDelco is an American automotive parts brand owned by General Motors (GM). Factory parts for vehicles manufactured by GM are consolidated under the ACDelco brand, which also offers aftermarket parts for non-GM vehicles. Over its long history it ...
(GM products) and Champion spark plugs sold by
Federal-Mogul Federal-Mogul Corporation is an American developer, manufacturer and supplier of products for automotive, commercial, aerospace, marine, rail and off-road vehicles; and industrial, agricultural and power-generation applications. It was acquire ...
.


Personal life and death

Champion married his Paris childhood sweetheart in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after he had been in America for a few years. Champion had numerous affairs over his marriage of almost 20 years until his wife sued him for "extreme cruelty". In 1922 he married a younger woman from Kansas City. In May 1927
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
flew solo in the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic powered by spark plugs made by Champion's AC Spark Plug Company in Flint. Five months later, on October 27, 1927, Champion collapsed and died suddenly at age 49 in his suite in the
Hotel Meurice Le Meurice () is a Brunei-owned five-star luxury hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli. From the Rue de Rivoli, it stretches to the Rue ...
after being punched by his wife's married lover in the
Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical st ...
. Champion left his widow $15 million.
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
bought Champion's AC Spark Plug Company by acquiring shares held by his estate. Alfred P. Sloan, president of General Motors, said: "The keynote of Champion's success was, that he was never satisfied ..his mind was open to the necessity for constant improvement". Champion is buried in
Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...
in Paris alongside his mother. In August 2015, Champion was enshrined as a life-size bronze statue in downtown Flint, part of the city's Back to the Bricks Automotive Pioneers Statute Project. He was inducted into the Waltham (Massachusetts) Hall of Fame and the
Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to au ...
in 1977.


Palmarès

;1899 : 1st,
Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...
; 1904 : 1st,
French National Stayers Championships The French National Stayers Championships are held annually. The stayers event is often known as motor-paced. It is held on a cycling track, the riders follow a motor throughout the race, the rider of the motor is known as their pacer. The event i ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Albert 1878 births 1927 deaths Automotive businesspeople Cyclists from Paris French automotive pioneers French emigrants to the United States French industrialists French male cyclists