Michelin - The History of Rubber Tyres
Author: Mary Smith

The origins of the world's largest rubber tyre
manufacturer, Michelin, can be traced back nearly 200 years
with the marriage in 1829 of Edouard Daubree to Elizabeth
Pugh Barker. Pugh Barker was the niece of the Scottish
chemist Charles Macintosh, whose experiments with one of
the by products of tar, naphtha, led to the development of
rubberised waterproof fabric. The Macintosh raincoat is
named after him.

In 1829, armed with this knowledge, Elizabeth introduces
rubber into the Auvergne region of France by making, by
hand, play balls for children. In 1832, Edouard invents a
machine for manufacturing rubber balls and with his cousin
Aristide Barbier, opens a factory making farm machinery and
rubber balls in Clermont Ferrand. They quickly start
developing rubber tubes, gaskets and valves for use in
industrial applications. The company continues to develop
over the next 30 years until in 1863 the founders set up a
limited company, E. Daubree & Co. which becomes J.G. Bideau
& Co. in 1868.

The Michelin name first appears in 1889 when Edouard
Michelin and his brother Andre, take over the management of
the company which becomes Michelin & Co. or to give it its
full French title 'Manufacture Francaise des Pneumatics
Michelin'. The brothers develop the 'removable' pneumatic
tyre, a great improvement on the pneumatic tyres available
up until this time which had to be glued to the wheel rim
and thus were very slow to replace. To publicise their new
tyre Michelin organise a cycle race between Paris and
Clermont Ferrand in 1891. During the race the brothers
scatter nails along the route to prove that a flat tyre can
now be easily and speedily repaired.

The company now concentrates on the development of
pneumatic car tyres and in 1895 Edouard and Andre build and
drive 'The Éclair', the first car to run on pneumatic
tyres, in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race. The famous
Michelin Man character is conceived in 1894 after Edouard
notes the similarity of a pile of tyres at the entrance to
the Michelin stand at the Universal and Colonial exhibition
in Lyon to the body and head of a man. Andre takes this
idea and commissions the illustrator O'Galop to develop the
character and so give birth to the instantly recognisable
tyre man. The character is also known a Bibendum after the
first poster using his image carried the logo 'nunc est
bibendem', a Latin phrase meaning 'it's time to drink'
which makes more sense when read with the rest of the words
on the poster, which translate as 'That is to say, to your
health: The Michelin tyre drinks up obstacles'.

In 1899, Michelin tyres are used on the first electrically
powered car to break the 100km per hour barrier.

The first Michelin red guide to hotels and restaurants
appears in 1900 and quickly gains a reputation as a
reliable source of reference. Today, the guides cover 17
different locations and are recognised as the best hotel
and restaurant guides in the world. The famous Michelin
star symbols of recommendation (introduced in 1926) have
become the benchmark against which all restaurants are
graded and any top chef is adjudged by the number of stars
(or not) he has achieved.

In 1905 Michelin invent the 'Michelin Sole' incorporating
studs to improve grip, a feature particularly relevant to
the sometimes icy conditions found in the mountainous
Auvergne region. The Michelin Tyre Company Ltd. is founded
in London in 1906. In the same year the first tyre plant
outside France is opened in Turin and in the following year
the Milltown plant in New Jersey, United States becomes the
first Michelin plant outside Europe.

It is 1910 and Michelin distributes 30,000 street name
plates around France to tie in with the launch of its first
of its now legendary road maps.

Michelins interest in aviation begins in 1908 with the
Michelin Grand Prix, setting a challenge to aviators to fly
between Paris and Clermont Ferrand. This is achieved for
the first time in 1911 by Renaux and Senouque. The company
is heavily involved in aviation during the First World War
as Michelin builds over 1800 war planes at its main
Clermont Ferrand plant. This leads to the development of
the first concrete runway in 1916 at Clermont's Aulnat
airport, thus making it possible for aircraft to take off
in all weathers.

Tyre development continues after the war and in 1923 the
first low pressure passenger tyre, the 'Confort' is
introduced, capable of distances of up to 15,000 km's. This
development continues and in 1932 the 'Super Confort', an
even lower pressure tyre capable of 30,000km's, is
introduced.

The predecessor of the current Michelin Green Guides is
published as a regional tourist guide to Brittany in 1926.
Today, like the red guides, the green guides are published
worldwide and are a highly respected source of information
for many of the world's major tourist destinations.

The Michelin Empire expands in the 1920's with the first
plant in the UK at Stoke on Trent and a second plant in
Italy in Trente. They purchase several thousand acres in
Indochina to open their own rubber plantations. The
Clermont plant now employs over 10,000 people over three
sites.

In 1935 Michelin take control of Citroen cars. At this time
the company begins its development of a new type of
vehicle, the 'TPV' or 'Tout Petite Vehicule' which will
later develop into the first 2CV, introduced at the 1948
Paris motor show. Michelin sells its shares in Citroen to
Peugeot in 1974.

Over the next few decades Michelin continues its
innovations in tyre technology with many new developments
including tyres for trains, an early tyre incorporating an
inner tube, an anti-skid tyre appropriately christened the
'Stop' tyre, steel rimmed tyres for trucks and perhaps its
most significant invention, the radial tyre, first patented
in 1946. The radial tyre revolutionises tyre technology, as
the particular construction of the radial tyre results in
less road friction and greater fuel economy. Today, the
radial tyre is the industry standard for all motor
vehicles. The Michelin Group grows on the back of its
successful technological developments and by 1966 employ
81,000 people worldwide.

In 1977 Michelin introduce radial tyre technology to
Formula One racing with the Renault team. In 1979 they
achieve their first success with Ferrari winning the world
championship on Michelin radials. Michelin tyres also
supply the world champions in 1981, 1983 and 1984. Since
then the company's involvement in Formula One has not been
constant, withdrawing in 1984 for a period of 17 years
before returning with several teams in 2001. Michelin tyres
dominate the 2005 and 2006 seasons winning with Fernando
Alonso's Renault team. Michelin tyres also win the 2005
World rally Championship and GP Moto World Championship
titles. After the 2006 season Michelin withdraw for the
second time from Formula One after several disputes with
the sports governing body.

The 1980's sees a period of rapid worldwide expansion for
the Michelin Group with new plants opening in Brazil, the
USA, Canada, Asia and Japan. They also acquire the
Uniroyal-Goodrich tyre company in North America.

A new tyre manufacturing process is invented in 1993 called
C3M prompting the development of new plants in Clermont
Ferrand, China, Sweden and the USA. Yet another major
innovation is the PAX system in 1998 which allows tyres to
run safely even if they are punctured and lose pressure.

In 2000 the Bibendum character, now 102 years old is voted
the 'worlds best logo' by an independent panel of
advertising professionals.

This century has seen no let up in the development of new
tyre technology with many ground breaking inventions in the
world of aviation, agriculture and civil engineering as
well as in the domestic car sector. This rich history of
innovation and developments in tyre industry which
continues today is testament to the vision and skill of the
company's founders and demonstrates why Michelin remains
one of the worlds leading brands.


About the Author:

Mary Smith has lived in the Auvergne for 4 years and would
love you to come and discover this hidden gem in the heart
of France for yourself. Mary runs a holiday lettings
agency, Auvergne France Homes, providing a large choice of
comfortable, reasonably priced accommodation. Come and
discover the Auvergne for yourselves at
http://www.afhomes.biz