L’Effarant record de Meiffret — L’Officiel du cycle, 3 November 1951

L’Officiel du cycle, du motocycle et du camping, 3 November 1951, on José Meiffret’s motor-paced record of 175.721 km an hour behind Giraud-Cabantous’s Talbot-Lago near Muret on 20 October 1951, with the full list of the equipment on his Yvars: Dunlop tubulars, Brampton chain, Pearl saddle, Prior hubs, T.A. chainset, Philippe bars, Méphisto rims, Préférence freewheel and more. The title is transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words, and the page images carry it in full.

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L’EFFARANT RECORD DE MEIFFRET

Une magnifique victoire du cyclisme français

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. José Meiffret, the stayer from Nice, has struck again. The article recalls that a year earlier, on 6 October, he had taken the kilometer record on a German autobahn (“autostrade” as printed) at 139 km. 500 an hour behind the motorcycle of his pacer Willy Klein. Now, after a run of disappointments in Germany, Italy and France, he has taken from Letourneur the record for the highest speed on a bicycle, which Letourneur had held for exactly ten years (since 1941) at 175 km. 287, by riding at 175 km. 721 an hour. The attempt was made near Muret, on the national road Toulouse-Saint-Gaudens. Meiffret first rode alone for 3 kilometers, then took the wheel of a motorcycle for nearly 5 kilometers, already near 100 km./h., before slipping into the slipstream of the Talbot-Lago driven by the racing driver Giraud-Cabantous. He had been waiting six days for his chance while rain and wind thwarted him, and a mechanical failure added to the delay (a broken gearbox pinion in Giraud-Cabantous’s car). On Saturday 20 October he came close to success in the morning, but completed the run only in the afternoon, and on getting off the machine, exhausted, he fainted for several minutes. Giraud-Cabantous remarked that José would have gone faster still without all the organizational troubles he had to overcome.]

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[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The continuation says Meiffret now hopes to reach 200 km./h. on an autobahn, then reviews his equipment as a credit to French industry. The machine, geared to a development of 22 meters, was a Yvars built in special tubing. Its equipment, as listed: Dunlop tubular tires, glued with “Boyauplast” (tubular cement); a Brampton chain; a Pearl saddle; Prior hubs; Bernardon pedals; Stronghight cranks (so printed, for Stronglight); a T.A. bottom bracket; a Philippe handlebar; Méphisto rims; Paturaud toe clips and straps; 3 Étoiles spokes; a Préférence freewheel and sprocket; Dissoplast specialties (products); and, for safety, a Geno helmet. The writer also praises the skill of the pacer Giraud-Cabantous, who had to work the accelerator with great delicacy and the steering wheel with his usual mastery. On Sunday 21 October the two men were given an ovation during the public variety broadcast “Surprises de la France” hosted by Jean Nohain, where they appeared among the fastest military jet and supersonic pilots in France; the same day Meiffret was presented to the crowd at the Vél d’Hiv’ during its weekly meeting, where he was warmly applauded.]

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[The rest of page 11 carries motorcycle news (N.S.U., F.N. and the Moto-Guzzi records), a note on the British Cycle and Motor Cycle Show at Earl’s Court and the magazine’s own petition form, not part of this record.]