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Emile Leray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emile Leray
Born23 August 1949 (1949-08-23) (age 76)
France
Known forBuilding a motorcycle in the Moroccan Desert

Emile Leray (born 23 August 1949) is a French electrician who is most noteworthy for transforming a car into a motorcycle while stranded in the Sahara Desert.[1][2]

Achievements

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Leray built a desert motorcycle out of the parts of a broken-down Citroën 2CV in 1993, while on a solo trip in Morocco. His car broke down near the coastal town of Tantan, Morocco, when he accidentally hit a rock, which damaged his car's chassis. Per Leray's account, he was stranded twenty miles from Tantan, with only enough food and water to last ten days.[3] To survive, Leray used parts of his broken-down car to build a motorcycle, and twelve days after the accident was able to drive it to Tantan 20 miles away.[4][5]

References

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  1. Colt, Georgina (June 24, 2012). "A Citroën, a saw … et voilà, I have a bike". www.thetimes.com.
  2. "Stranded in the desert near Tan Tan, a French man turned his car into a motorcycle".
  3. "PHOTOS: Man escapes African desert DOOM, turns wrecked car into DIY motorcycle". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020.
  4. Berg, Nik (January 16, 2025). "This Feisty Frenchman Turned His 2CV into a Two-Wheeler to Escape the Sahara".
  5. Smithfield, Brad (May 18, 2016). "Emile Leray built working motorcycle broken car Citroen 2cv escape African desert | The Vintage News".