The Fast Times of Albert Champion

by Peter Joffre Nye

  Charlie said he wanted a penthouse apartment.6 It took a while to find something that suited his taste. Edna came upon a two-story penthouse containing ten rooms atop the twenty-story Medical Arts Building, a hospital for the affluent at 57 West 57th Street. To please him, she bought the entire building.7 As coolly as if she were a tourist jotting a note on a postcard, she wrote a check for $1.3 million ($17.7 million in 2014).8

  A burst of Puritan conscience about living openly with her lover prompted her to order him out of her bedroom.9 They converted the dining room into his bedroom. She purchased a Louis XVI canopy bed for her bedroom and two Watteau paintings.10 Then she had a third floor built on top just for her and Charlie. They held open house on the first floor of their penthouse for parties, drinking, and dancing the Charleston and the Lindy Hop to music blaring from the phonograph around the clock. Edna stocked a room with cases of champagne and drank the bubbly from an extra tall iced-tea glass.11

  Charlie took over the second floor of the Medical Arts Building as a gentleman stockbroker.12 He created a dummy corporation in Panama and sold her General Motors stock for $5 million.13 When the stock market crashed in 1929, he lost $3.5 million of Edna’s money.14

  His wife Roberta Acuff Brazelle died at age thirty-five in a Paris hotel of pneumonia in April 1930.15 He proposed marriage to Edna, but she was wary of becoming his third wife. He plied her with champagne and narcotic drugs from the hospital until her sisters and brothers-in-law packed his bags and banished him from her life.16 He moved into the New York Athletic Club. Desperate to reconcile, he kept coming back, again and again.

  Edna’s liver failed and the hospital she lived above could not help. She hired guards to protect her from Brazelle.17 On March 18, 1935, she was lying on her Louis XVI bed when he smashed through a glass-panel bedroom door, waving a pistol and shouting her name.18 Guards beat him up, blackened both eyes, and threw him bleeding into the street.19 He went by ambulance for treatment at the Flower-Fifth Avenue Hospital.20

  Hours later, Edna died. Her estate, valued at $8 million, went to her surviving mother and siblings.21

  Brazelle sued her estate in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court for $650,000 as her common-law husband.22 Edna’s family ratted out Brazelle in court, claiming that he had slugged Champion fatally in the bar of the Hôtel Crillon during an argument over Edna.23 The circumstances behind Champion’s death had not hit the streets in the New York-Detroit-Flint axis until the New York American headline of June 15, 1935, screamed: “Millionaire’s Death Laid to Boxer’s Punch in Suit over Champion Estate.”24

  A hard fist to the chest from husky six-foot Brazelle could set off atrial fibrillation, causing a heart attack.25 Relatives fed details to reporters and, surprisingly, he verified their version to bolster his claim as common-law husband. Newspapers treated the trinity of money, sex, and betrayal as a bonanza.

  The salacious stories fizzled in December when Brazelle was taken by ambulance for treatment of gastric ulcers to Flower-Fifth Avenue Hospital—where Champion had recovered from his 1903 compound leg fracture. There on December 20 at age forty-four Charlie Brazelle died.26

  The spark-plug designs, dashboard speedometers, and companies Champion started have stood the test of time. Today the Champion Spark Plug and ACDelco brand names are recognized around the world. More than two hundred thousand people a year attend performances at the Boston Center for the Arts in the landmark Cyclorama Building in Boston’s South End, all passing the brass plate celebrating his Albert Champion Company, where he had made his first Champion spark plugs. Approximately 50 million vehicles operating in the United States are currently on the road with ACDelco spark plugs, filters, brakes, and other components.27 And every April at the Paris-Roubaix Queen of the Classics bicycle race, another winner’s name is added to Albert Champion’s on the roster of legends.

  Albert Champion’s story has been lying around for nearly a century, the accounts of his life widely scattered on both sides of the Atlantic. To collect source material, I have benefited from the generous help and cooperation of many people in five countries. To everyone, I express my heart-felt appreciation.

  Thanks to Lorne Shields in Toronto for bringing to my attention the big concept of the bicycle industry in the late nineteenth century creating the foundation of our modern transportation system. Roger White, museum specialist in the Transportation Division of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, generously and patiently granted me regular access over several years to read old leather-bound volumes of Bearings, Automobile, and many other periodicals.

  Cherie Champion, granddaughter of Prosper Champion, Albert Champion’s youngest brother, provided family stories and the scrapbook that Albert kept of his professional cycling career and the scrapbook Prosper collected containing French and English obituaries.

  Kerry Champion Williams, great-niece of Albert’s second wife, Edna Crawford, shared family stories as well as a scrapbook collected by her grandmother, Emily.

  Stephen and Ann Stranahan shared personal recollections and family reminiscences about their grandfather, Frank D. Stranahan, and Frank’s younger brother, Robert Allen Stranahan II. Stephen and Ann provided records of the Albert Champion Company of Boston, the genesis of both the Champion Spark Plug Company and the General Motors division ACDelco.

  Virginia L. Smeyers, curatorial associate at Harvard University Archives in Pusey Library, supplied copies of entries from Robert Allen Stranahan II, class of 1908, Anniversary Reports.

  Anne McMahon, university archivist at Santa Clara University, supplied documents on Charles Brazelle, class of 1908. Jessica Miller, archivist at the Archives of Michigan, guided me on the dates of the founding of the Champion Ignition Company of Flint and its later name change to the AC Spark Plug Company, since merged with another division and continuing as ACDelco. Melissa Phillips, manager of the Research Library at the American Automobile Association, generously provided helpful historical information.

  Dennis Renault kindly tutored me and gave a broadsheet he had written and illustrated on the intricate nineteenth-century letter-copying book process. Vincent Bakich provided helpful background into the Marmon Speedster. Gary McCoy shared some of his vast knowledge of motorcycles, especially the Clément Gladiator. Stewart Harris provided a copy of his erudite and puckish college thesis on Boston’s Newspaper Row and its eight dailies around the turn of the twentieth century. Waltham Museum volunteers Albert Arena, Louise Butler, and Jack Vallely were always helpful in supplying information on Charles Herman Metz and Champion’s early days in America working for Metz.

  For medical consulting, thanks to W. Scott Schroth, MD, MPH; Bill Mallon, MD; Andrew Lovy, OD; and Lainie Holman, MD.

  For translations thanks to Steve Moyer, who also suggested books on Paris and France, and to Jean-Claude Laboudigue, my friend in Pau, France.

  As always, I am fortunate to have inspiration and support from Louise Blum, Don McDermott, and Dan (Hoss) Lee.

  Frank K. Gallant and Hank Banta patiently listened as I shared some early findings. Thanks to Buck Peacock, Jere Cunningham, Andrew Homan, Ken Moffett, Steve Lassahn, Alan Côté, John Howard, Jack Nadolski, Janet Brown and Roy Drinkwater, Ben Valley, Bill Driscoll, Pete and Sally Swan, Clint Page and Dar Webb Page, Russell Howe, Bill and Carol McGann, Ken and Pam Williams, Bob Keough, Gerry Ives, Jacques Seray, Gérard Salmon, Butch Baker, Andrew Ritchie, Rich Street, Dylan Klemper, Ed Ruesing, Owen Mulholland, the late Rich Carlson. And thanks to Marine Corps sharpshooter Lawrence Herman for his calls with news reports and to inquire about my progress.

  For guidance on General Motors, I thank Daniel L. Dolan in media relations at the AC Rochester Division of General Motors, since renamed ACDelco; also, Kathleen Adelson, researcher at the General Motors Heritage Center.

  Thanks to Jim Orr at the Benson Ford Research Center at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and Dave Larzelere, librarian at the Flint Journal. Dave White at the Kettering University Archiv
es and the William C. Durant Collection in Flint was always attentive and helpful in providing material about The Man and his creation known around the world as General Motors.

  Mentors from the Goucher College MFA in Creative Writing gave me much kind support and editorial direction. A special thanks to Suzanna Lessard, Tom French, Jacob Levenson, Dick Todd, and Patsy Sims.

  I am indebted to volunteer researchers who constantly impressed me with their diligence and brilliance. Bernadette Murphy in Paris tracked down records and background information in and about Paris that inspired me to continue digging into Champion’s story. Alain Pernot, also in Paris, provided helpful material and insights on the 1921 Grand Prix de France. Renate Franz in Cologne, Germany, found material on Champion in Berlin. Dick Croft in Manchester, England, diligently researched nineteenth-century files in the public library of Haslingden for information on Haslingden’s very own James “Choppy” Warburton. David Herlihy, a Boston-based world traveler, and Stuart Stanton, a Welshman living in Leeds, England, and Janis Keough in Oak Harbor, Washington, were indefatigable in discovering information that solidified the biography’s narrative.

  My gallant and persevering agent John Rudolph at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management pushed hard to get this story in print. Thanks to John and to Steven L. Mitchell, editor-in-chief at Prometheus Books, who saw the value of Champion’s biography as a crossover history of the automobile industry. The crew at Prometheus Books applied their considerable talents to produce the book, led by the sharp-eyed and rigorous editor Brian McMahon, proofreader Mariel Bard, designer Jacqueline Nasso Cooke, and production manager Cate Roberts-Abel.

  My special appreciation goes to Trever Igor Nye for sharing his deep knowledge of engines and passion for spicy Indian food.

  Most of all, I thank my wife Valerie with deep appreciation and love for her patience over the years I was researching and pulling the story together and, especially, for reading drafts and offering invaluable editorial expertise. She influences me in many ways every day. I could not have written this book without her.

  A note on sources. In my research about Albert Champion and his circle, his great niece, Cherie Champion, the granddaughter of his youngest brother, Prosper Champion, generously provided the scrapbook that Albert had kept of his cycling career 1896 and 1904 and another scrapbook that Prosper Champion had collected of his brother. These scrapbooks yielded a treasury of newspaper and magazine clippings and photographs. Some included information is incomplete as clips were cut out and pasted onto pages in a casual way. A scrapbook about Champion and his second wife, Edna Crawford Champion, was collected by her younger sister, Emily Crawford, including material about Edna’s lover, Charles Brazelle. A copy was made courtesy of Emily’s granddaughter, Kerry Champion Williams. For converting money amounts to their purchasing power in 2014, I relied on MeasuringWorth, http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus.

  PROLOGUE

  1. Chris Sinsabaugh, Who Me? Forty Years of Automobile History (Detroit: Arnold-Powers, 1940), p. 224.

  2. “Motor Racing in America—at the Empire City Track,” New York Sun, June 6, 1903.

  3. Ibid.

  4. John J. Donovan, “Champion Rides a Mile in 58-4/5S,” Boston Globe, July 12, 1903, describes his four-cylinder, 10-hp engine on his Clément Gladiator motorcycle imported from Paris when US motorcycles had one or two cylinders. Champion bored the cylinder holes wider to boost his engine capacity to 22 hp, noted Motorcycle Illustrated, September 1, 1908, p. 30.

  5. “World’s Record Broken—Champion Does Mile on Motor Cycle in 1m. 4 1-5s,” Boston Herald, May 31, 1903.

  6. “1900: 8,000 Automobiles, 4 billion Cigarettes,” in Chronicle of America: From Prehistory to Today (New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995), p. 529.

  7. “Motor Racing in America” New York Sun; “World’s Record Broken,” Boston Herald.

  8. Henry Ford Museum display, from author visit October 24, 2013, at the 1902 Ford “999” Race Car, Dearborn, MI. More information available at American Heritage, http://www.americanheritage.com/content/1902-Ford-999-race-car-built-henry-ford (accessed June 11, 2014).

  9. John B. Rae, The American Automobile: A Brief History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), p. 17.

  10. William F. Nolan, Barney Oldfield: The Life and Times of America’s Legendary Speed King (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1961), p. 38.

  11. “American Leads in Numerical Value,” Automobile, February 21, 1907, p. 352.

  12. Henry Ford Museum display.

  13. “Motor Racing in America,” New York Sun.

  CHAPTER 1. BALANCING ON ONE WHEEL

  1. Chris Sinsabaugh, Who Me? Forty Years of Automobile History (Detroit: Arnold-Powers, 1940), p. 15.

  2. “Albert Champion, Head of AC, Dies in Paris Hotel,” Flint Journal, October 28, 1927.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Archives de Paris, 18 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, on microfilm #869 (accessed September 10, 2004). Also available at http://canadp-archivesenligne.paris.fr.

  5. John Colletta, lecturer in a French Genealogical Workshop, US National Archives, Washington, D.C., August 27, 1996.

  6. Patrice Higonnet, Paris: Capital of the World, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002), p. 69.

  7. Michael Poisson, Paris: Buildings and Monuments: An Illustrated Guide with over 850 Drawings and Neighborhood Maps (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999), p. 287.

  8. Edouard de Perrodil, Albert Champion: His Triumphs, His Adventures, His Voyage to the United States, brochure published in Paris, 1904, by L’Auto, pp. 6–7, translated by David Herlihy.

  9. Ibid.

  10. US Draft Registration Card, Division No. 1, Flint, MI, September 12, 1918.

  11. Perrodil, Albert Champion, p. 7.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Ibid.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Paul-Henri Lecuyer, archivist at Noisy-le-Sec, in e-mail to author, March 3, 2014.

  16. Perrodil, Albert Champion, p. 7.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Charles Ravaud, “The Death of Albert Champion: His Career—From Cycling Champion to Industrialist,” L’Auto, October 28, 1927.

  19. Perrodil, Albert Champion, p. 7.

  20. “Champion’s Death a Shock to Friends: Industry Loses Most Colorful Figure,” Automobile Topics Illustrated, November 5, 1927.

  21. Archives de Paris, canadap-archivesenligne.paris.fr/archives_etat_civil/avant_1860-fichiers_etat_civil_reconstitute/fecr_visu_img.php?registre=V3E_N_0430&type=ECRF&&bdd-en-cours=etat_civil_rec-fichiers (accessed January 17, 2014).

  22. Michael Kimmelman, “Glimpsing a Lost Paris, Before Gentrification: Charles Marville’s Pictures Show What Was Destroyed,” New York Times, March 9, 2014.

  23. Poisson, Paris, p. 11.

  24. Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982), chapter 27, “The Sad Irons,” pp. 508–509, describes the universal labor involved in manual clothes washing.

  25. Record for Alexandre Champion, Ancestry.com, http://search.ancestry.com/cqi-bin/sse.dll?h=282016&db=ARFIDOmarriages&indiv=try (accessed June 5, 2012).

  26. Archives de Paris, Marriages, 1873–1882, 17e arr. D1M9 481, p. 6, record for Alexandre Champion, http://canadparchivesenligne.paris.fr/archives_etat_civil/1860_1902_tables_decennales/td_visu_img.php?registre=D1M9_481&type=TD&vue_tranche_debut=AD075TD_D1M9_481_0045&vue_tranche_fin=AD075TD_D1M9_481_0065&ref_histo=14404&cote=D1M9%20481 (accessed January 17, 2014).

  27. Ibid.

  28. Alastair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), p. 262; Rupert Christiansen, Paris Babylon: The Story of the Paris Commune (New York: Viking, 1994), p. 244.

  29. Ibid.

  30. David McCullough, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011), p. 286. McCullough notes that the taste of brewery rats surpassed that of sewer rats.

  31. Horne, Seven Ages of Paris, p. 270; Higonnet, Paris, p. 109; Christianson, Pa
ris Babylon, p. 366.

  32. Poisson, Paris, p. 263.

  33. US National Parks Service, http://www.nps.org/wamo/index.htm (accessed June 11, 2014).

  34. Archives de Paris, Décès, 1883–1892, 17e arr. D1MP890, Parish Register, p. 16, http://canadparchivesenligne.paris.fr/archives_etat_civil/1860_1902_tables_decennales/td_visu_img.php?registre=D1M9_890&type=TD&vue_tranche_debut=AD075TD_D1M9_890_0062&vue_tranche_fin=AD075TD_D1M9_890_0082&ref_histo=13330&cote=D1M9%20890 (accessed January 17, 2014).

  35. Researcher Bernadette Murphy consulted the Paris Archives on March 24, 2014, checking the conscription and tax records of each of Paris’s twenty arrondissements from 1849 to 1939, but found no mention of Alexandre Champion anywhere.

  36. “Work Is Albert Champion’s Main Pastime—Says He Can’t Quit Now,” Detroit News, August 21, 1927.

  37. Perrodil, Albert Champion.

  CHAPTER 2. THE FEARLESS KNIGHT

  1. Légion d’Honneur file, archived at the Centre Historique Archives de Paris, ref. L0549039, http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/leonore/pres.htm (accessed March 3, 2006). Clément was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur on April 2, 1894.

  2. Henri Desgrange, “Mort de Clément-Bayard,” L’Auto, May 11, 1928, p. 1.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Légion d’Honneur file. After Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur followed Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, on December 6, 1904, then Commandeur Légion d’Honneur, November 20, 1912.

  5. “The French Dunlop Tires,” To-Day (London), July 18, 1896, p. 331.

  6. Desgrange, “Mort de Clément-Bayard.”

  7. “The Romance of Business: A Word on the Birth and Growth of a New Industry,” Westminster Budget (London), May 1, 1896, p. 26.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Sir Arthur du Cros, Wheels of Fortune: A Salute to Pioneers (London: Chapman and Hall, 1938), p. 90.

  10. Ibid., p. 92.

  11. Gérard Hartmann, Clément-Bayard: Sans Peur et Sans Reproche, 2006, p. 4, http://www.hydroretro.net.etudegh/clement-bayard.pdf (accessed August 29, 2013).