The Greatest Escape?

 

I do not usually write about events from the recent past, as my personal preference is for events or characters that predate living memory. Yes, I know that history includes events from the modern era too, but that’s just the way I am. Occasionally , however, I come across a story that is so good, I just feel the need to tell it, even though it may have occurred relatively recently. What follows is a case in point.

 

In 1993, Frenchman Emile Leray set off on an adventure. He was planning to drive his Citroen 2CV across the Moroccan desert. Having departed from the city of Tan Tan, the electrician encountered a military outpost, where he was informed he could go no further. Rather than turning around and going back in the direction from whence he had come, Emile chose instead to take his little car off road in order to navigate his way around the restricted area.

 

You might think that a 2CV is an unusual choice of vehicle for tackling a desert, and I would be inclined to agree with you. Emile explained his choice as follows, “I decided to do it in a 2CV because, although it is not a 4×4, it is tough. In Africa they call it the ‘Steel Camel’ because it goes everywhere … provided you drive it gently.” Unfortunately for Emile and his car, he was not gentle enough. Apparently the terrain was rough and uneven, and he lost control and ran into a large rock. You can hear the clerk form the insurance company now, “So let me get this straight, you were driving through a desert and you hit something?!”

 

A broken swing arm and wheel axle rendered the car undriveable, although the engine still  ran. So, what do you do if you are stranded in the middle of a hot  desert, with dwindling supplies of food and water, and your car won’t go? Well, if you’re Emile, you take your car to bits and turn it into a motorbike! He later commented, “I could not have gone back on foot … it was too far. I put myself in what one calls survival mode. I ate less; I monitored my supplies of water and of food to make them last as long as possible.”

 

What a Citroen 2CV SHOULD Look Like

 

He began the process by removing the body of the car, which he was able to use as a makeshift shelter. The high daytime temperature contrasted sharply with the cold of the nighttime, and sandstorms were not infrequent. Emile also had to contend with a lack of shade when working on his car/bike. As he had only a short sleeved shirt, he cut the ends off of a pair of socks, which he put on his arms to avoid sunburn.

 

Among his tools was a hacksaw, which he used to shorten the chassis. Being without a drill or welding equipment, attaching components to each other was a major problem. Where possible, Emile used the original holes that Citroen had helpfully provided to bolt and screw things together. Where he needed to make new holes, he used a combination of the hacksaw, a file and a hammer and punch to create the necessary apertures.

 

He reattached the axles and two of the four wheels, before installing the engine and gearbox in the middle, between the wheels. Owing to the configuration that Emile was forced to employ, he realised that he would need to use reverse gear in order to move forwards. To sit on, he constructed a saddle from the Citroen’s rear bumper. Ouch! Emile had anticipated the job would take about 3 days to complete, but it actually took him 12 days before his ‘bike’ was ready. As motorcycles go, it was very heavy, and most alarmingly, it had no brakes! By the time he was ready to set off, Emile was down to his last half a litre of water, but he had done it, out of a broken car he had fashioned a workable motorcycle. Astonishing!

 

The Bike That Emile Built

 

That is not quite the end of the story though. As he was only able to use reverse gear, his maximum speed was about 20 km/h (12.5 mp/h). Emile had been riding his amazing contraption back towards civilisation for about a day, when he was stopped by the Moroccan police. Courteously, they gave him a lift to the nearest village. Ungraciously, however, they also fined him because the registration documents for his 2CV did not correspond to the vehicle he had been riding, despite the fact that he had remembered to attach the number plate to the back of the bike.

 

After returning to France, Emile procured another 2CV, and one month later, returned to Tan Tan. This time though, he was not there to try his luck in the desert once more, He had come to collect his amazing machine. By disassembling it into three parts, he was able to transport in home.

 

Unsurprisingly, Emile Leray, now in his sixties, has kept the motorbike that saved his life. Owing to his incredible feat of mechanical engineering in extraordinary circumstances, and his subsequent escape from the desert, he has been dubbed the world’s most extreme mechanic. I’d certainly go along with that!

 

A Little Rusty, But Still Going (The Bike, I Mean)

 

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168061/French-electrician-stranded-Moroccan-desert-rebuilt-wrecked-car-motorbike-drove-civilisation.html

http://chameaudacier.free.fr/moto9.html