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REVERCHON
A FRENCH CONSTRUCTOR
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A SUCCESS STORY
From modest beginnings in a small workshop, the construction company Reverchon has risen to international heights. Three generations have carried on a tradition of innovation and dynamism that dates back to over 70 years. The fairy tale story of Reverchon shares a commonality as well as a fundamental difference with the magical world of amusement parks; both are the stuff made of dreams, but the French company is also very much a part of reality.
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FROM CARS TO BUMPER-CARS
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Gaston Reverchon was only 14 when, in 1915, he arrived in Paris. His first job was with Renault; he then started work with Binder, a company that repaired luxury cars...such as of Bentley and Rolls Royce. With twelve years experience under his belt, Gaston started his own business specialising in the manufacture of spare parts for luxury automobiles. The chance encounter that would change his life would happened when he met the famous textile industrialist Marcel Boussac who became one of his clients. It was in fact his chauffeur, who loved amusement parks, who suggested to Gaston he build parts for bumper cars.
At the time, bumper cars were nothing more than a steering wheel and a seat attached to a wooden board on wheels. When, in 1929, the first Reverchon bumper-car with its metallic colour and design inspired by the American cars of that period went on to the market, it was an instant success. Gaston Reverchon's small workshop expanded in tune to the sales of his miniature racecars. It soon occurred to him not only to make parts but the whole ride itself. And so in 1937, on the eve of World War II that would halt the activities at Reverchon, Télécombat, a ride that features small military airplanes, was born.
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THE GOLDEN AGE
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At the end of the war, people were starved for distraction and Gaston Reverchon was only willing to sell it to them. His sons Michel and Christian joined him; "Gaston Reverchon" became "Gaston Reverchon and Sons". Fortunately for us, the French Air Force was unable to satisfy Christian's engineering talents. He instead put his technical know-how to use in the park industry that enabled him to make audacious innovations. Whereas Michel continued to develop the production of bumper cars, Christian improve the other rides created by Gaston such as Télécombat and Bobsleigh. The two decades beginning in 1950 would prove to be Reverchon's golden age: existing products were improved, new rides were created, and sales increased beyond France. By 1971 the company had 270 employees.
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REVERCHON IN THE USA
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1973 is a significant year in the history of Reverchon. It is the year Christian Reverchon presented in Chicago his two latest revolutionary attractions, Himalaya and Paratrooper. The idea was to put Reverchon's products up against those of its international competitors so as to get a better idea of their place on the market. American park-goers found the rides a lot of fun and fell under the spell of the Reverchon aesthetic. However, the time it took to set up and dismantle the rides (3 days work for 3 people) dampened their enthusiasm...a similar ride made in America only called for 5 hours!
The experience revealed Reverchon's ambition to expand beyond the European continent. It also gave the company a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses...lessons that Christian Reverchon was quick to learn and put to use.
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REVERCHON GETS WET
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In 1976 Reverchon made its first flume ride (a ride where passengers are conveyed through a water-filled chute in cars, often in the form of logs) for the Bagatelle Park, in France. This was a landmark event for the company because, as we shall see, this kind of ride would become one of Reverchon's trademark products, with over a hundred being sold worldwide.
Another important product would appear two years later as testimony to the American lessons' being learned well. In 1978, Reverchon launched the first bumper car pavilion to be set up using a hydraulic system. Before the invention of this system, setting up a bumper car pavilion meant two days work for six people. With the new system, the owner could do it all on his own!!! Thanks to this new system Reverchon's success is assured: this generation of rides represents 70% of its production.
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MODERN TIMES
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The second half of the seventies saw Reverchon enter its modern era in the sense that two of its three key products were conceived at this time: the flume ride in 1976 and the hydraulic system in 1978. The eighties brought about drastic changes with the death of Gaston Reverchon. Although his two sons Michel and Christian were already in charge of operations, the death of the family patriarch also symbolised the start of a new era. The beginning of the eighties showed a marked increase in the development of amusement parks.
This led to decrease in the production that was to fair stareholders whereas increased the production destined to amusement parks. Reverchon's entire enterprise was now divided between transportable and stationary versions of their products.
In 1990, Reverchon Industries broke off into two separate companies. Reverchon International Design, lead first by Michel and then his son Philippe, was now responsible for the production of the bumper cars. The rest of the production went to Reverchon Industries France (RIF) under the leadership of Christian and later his son Gilles.
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REVERCHON TODAY
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No sooner had he taken the reins of RIF than Gilles launched the production of the first Reverchon roller coaster. But it was only in 1996 when Spinning Coaster was conceived that a decisive stage was reached in this new venture. The originality of this particular roller coaster with four-passenger cars lies in the full 360° rotation. At the installation of the first model, Gilles Reverchon was immediately conscious of the impact of the product he had before him. The first customer, the Spaniard Miguel Angel Bañus Lopez recalls with emotion la Feria de Cordoba, where he set up Spinning Coaster for the first time. To satisfy demand, it was the only ride to remain open until-believe it or not-6 in the morning! In eight days, 77,000 people had already given it a try. And by 1999 over 20 of these Spinning Coasters had already been sold around the world.
For two years now Reverchon has been developing yet another roller coaster-this time a suspended one-called gliding coaster.
It is the development of these four products-flume ride, spinning coaster, gliding coaster and, to a lesser extent, the bumper-car rides (which represent no more than 10% of production)-that occupy the attention of the company. The design, quality, and security of these rides are at the centre of Reverchon's preoccupations. No less than 6 engineers work on the conception of the design as well as on the safety of these products, adapting the different rides to different customers' demands. For example, a Spinning Coaster that was ordered in Japan had to be modified so as to function in a particular seismic zone. Each product is also available in different versions based on size and whether or not it can be dismantled.
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FALSE MODESTY?
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Today Gaston Reverchon Industries is a holding company that includes Reverchon Industries France, Reverchon USA, and since May 2001, Hopkins Rides, an American company that specialises in aquatic rides such as flume rides. Since 1927 GRI has used 120,000 tons of steel to produce some 3000 rides sold in 65 countries over 4 continents. It is a company with a turnover of 25 million euros.
Is it because it's a family business that Reverchon is so modest? For the company sells its products as good and beautiful rides at reasonable prices (from 500,000 to 3 million euros), accessible to the whole family, and must-haves for medium-sized parks (from 350,000 to 1.5 million entries).
Medium-sized parks? Already, two Reverchon Spinning Coasters have been sold to Disney in US...Modest, they would have you believe...
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05/30/2002 |
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