On July 22nd, seventy years ago, a 56-year old Frenchman kissed his wife goodbye, started his Citroën 11CV, and set out for an epic drive. His name was François Lecot, his profession ‘hotelier’, his aim to set a record that was to be unequalled for years to come. Day, by day, night by night, regular like a Swiss watch, he drove the distance Paris - Monte Carlo - Paris, along the Route Nationale 7, only stopping at his home near Lyon, to sleep a few hours. This went on for more than a year, from July 1935 until July 1936, when he had driven a total distance of 400.000 kilometres, ten times around the world! Before starting out, Lecot had asked the Citroën factory to sponsor him, but they flatly refused. He therefore bought an 11CV from his own money and made several modifications. The most obvious were the two-piece windscreen that could be opened to be able to drive through the morning fog and two accelerator pedals, by which Lecot was able to overcome fatigue in his leg. More technical details of this 11CV can be found on these two pages (in French). After a few weeks of driving, people living along the route started to recognize Lecot and made way for him. Because of his special red and green driving lights, at night lorry drivers instantly knew it was Lecot in front of them. One source says that he only once interrupted his driving to participate in the Rally Monte Carlo, but another source tells us that the interruption was made, because Lecot was also a keen cyclist, to participate in the Tour de France. I don’t know what to believe. The photo shows François Lecot being celebrated in Paris and comes from the collection of Traction postcards by Jean-Yves Amathieu).

July 22, 2005