The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

v r economist suntribune wheels thursday aug 22 2002 15 how a family business became a rubber empire s back to jg r school i 1 s tne bouncing ball p watch as it transforms from an innocent womans desire to enter tain her children in a quiet french village with something called rubber into something called a worldwide revolution watch as it transforms one brother from a brilliant engineer into a marketing genius and the other from an artist into an inventor and watch as it revolutionizes a family a country and a way of life as it becomes a symbol of perpetual motion follow the bouncing ball and youll also follow the wheels of motion just the way edouard and andre michelin did making their family name more than just a well- known name in the streets of clermont france by making better wheels of motion the brothers had no intention of becom ing pioneers in the tiremaking business the bouncing ball got things rolling aristide barbier the maternal grandfa ther of the michelin brothers had already joined his cousin nicolas daubree and dis covered the advantages of rubber when they formed a small manufacturing business in clermont in 1832 daubrees wife was the niece of the emi nent scientist charles macintosh who had discovered that rubber was soluble in ben zene she had created balls of rubber which she used to play with her children her hus band had discovered the industrial possibili ties of vulcanized rubber using it in his fac tory to make seals belts valves and pipes but that was only where things got rolling after barbier and daubree died the fam ily business went into a serious period of decline and by 1886 when andre and edouard michelin took over the company it was near collapse andre knew he had to save the business even if he knew very little about rubber he was an engineer an architect and a success ful businessman who had created his own metal framework company in paris edouard was even more in the dark paints brushes and canvass he could handle but rubber he had just finished his finearts studies and was beginning a career as a painter when andre asked him to help steady the family enter prise my duty is now to go to clermont to save the family firm from ruin he told noted artist william bouguereau upon leaving paris neither could forecast what was to come one spring afternoon three years later an oxdrawn cart came into the michelin fac tory yard carrying a bicycle with a punctured tire it was unique as it had been fitted with a then recently patented rubber tube inflated with air and protected by fabric a creation of scottish businessman john boyd dunlop the tire was glued to the lip of the wheel and to be removed required a complex process and many tools edouard michelin was intrigued by the creation he took the bike for a spin around the factory and was amazed with the comfort of the ride its speed and handling he felt the future by the seat of his pants if only the tire could be easier to repair edouards brain storm would alter the way the world rides today after spending more than a year working on an idea the michelin brothers unveiled an easily detachable michelin tire at the parisbrestparis bicycle race on aug 14 1891 famed racing cyclist charles thery rode the new airfilled michelin tire to victo ry even after suffering a puncture by replac ing it in the french countryside marketing geniuses that they were the brothers were already advertising the victory before thery crossed the line the invention would revolutionize bicycle transportation with overwhelming public approval a year later some 1000 cyclists were using michelin tires soon a burgeoning auto industry would follow but only with a little help from the brothers again four years later the michelin boys creat ed a vehicle called leclair to help demon strate the feasibility of using changeable tires on automobiles in an heroic performance that lasted 100 hours the leclair did exactly that overcoming a series of breakdowns and one flash fire to complete the 745mile paris- bordeauxparis race one of only nine entries to cross the finish line the car and the pneu matic tire became inseparable immediately the michelin brothers working day and night out of their clermont factory would achieve astonishing growth by serving the young automotive industry with the first airfilled changeable tire it helped the model a become more than just a novelty it helped the michelin brothers turn a small faltering rubber shop into a world player in an emerging market andre was the marketing brains helping create bibendum the michelin man after a visit to the 1 894 international fair in lyon edouard was the head of research and oversaw the production process together they built an empire soon double bus tires were being pro duced factories were opened in london and america roads became marked better planes were fitted with better tires and a cars fifth wheel or spare tire was even produced over the next 30 years they would revolu tionize auto travel creating tread patterns lowpressure balloon tires steelcord tires and anything that would make life easier in 1 900 the first michelin guide was published a redcover booklet offered for free to drivers by 1931 42 years after helping lead a family company out of ruin andre michelin died and left an empire behind his brother would follow nine years later together they had transformed a small factory into an inter national group the company had grown to employ more than 25000 workers from just two the creative painter had become an industrialist the engineer would be known as a publicrelations whiz and a new century later michelin is just as big and the context of the michelin broth ers respective destinies is just as astonishing m jason stein is a feature writer and the editor of wheelbase communications haceweek racing page he can be reached at jsteinwheelbasecomcom wheelbase communications supplies automotive news and features to newspapers across north america red auto loaded roof leather traction stk p0207 reg 23995 sale 22800 black auto air leather roof loaded stk u2627a reg 21995 sale 19800 lllzda tftllllihf brown abs auto loaded rust pkg leather one owner stk p0249 reg 31995 sale 30500 2001acura17el blue 5sp air cruise alloys pw pl pm touring stk p0244 reg 21495 sale 20500 20q1suzuki grand vitara green 5 spd awd loaded air one owner stk d5264a reg 22995 sale 20800 2000 mazda mpv lx green auto air cd pw pl pm tiltcruise tint stk p0260 reg 21995 sale 19500 ovolksgolfgtivrekj rf black 5sp leather sunroof alloys loaded stk d52379a reg 25495 sale 23800 2000 mazda protege se silver autdi air cd tint lease return stk p0261 reg 14995 sale 13500 silver 5sp fully laoded 2 tone leather v6 stk p0245 reg 45995 sale 42900 1909 volvo 570 blue auto loaded leather cd wood grain dash stk p0208 reg 24995 sale 21900 2000 honda accord ex beige auto air leather loaded stk u2397a reg 21495 sale 19900 1998 honda accord lx silver auto air pw pl pm casst tiltcruise stk 112501 a reg 18995 sale 17500 green auto leather roof alloys v6 traction control stk p0233 reg 26995 sale 24900 grey auto air cd pb pl pw ps cruise control stk p0250 reg 18895 sale 16800 1998 nissan sentra gold air cd ps pb stk w2211a reg 11995 sale 10600 green 5 spd ext cab bedliner lease return stk p0230 reg 13995 sale 12500 green 5 spd 6 cyl 4x4 bedliner lease return stk p0256 reg 14895 sale 13800 green auto fully loaded quad seats alloys stk p0252 reg 19695 sale 17800 isr silver 5 spd air cd pw pl pm tiltcruise spoiler stk u2277a reg 16995 sale 15800 silver auto loaded abs stk d52522a reg 15995 sale 14900 imazbaprofeqesems green auto air cd pb ps stk p0251 reg 13995 sale 12900 5396 hwy 7 2941210 markham extended hours wed until 9 pm sat until 1pm