Champiot, the Great Rowing Machine on Wheels

The History of Champiot

The following is a recollection of the history of the Champiot Ultra as told by Dr. Marcio Ferez, President, Ferez Industries - manufacturers of the CHAMPIOT Ultra:

It all started one afternoon when my father came home from work carrying with him four wooden wheels he had lathed. My older brother was too preoccupied with his Middle High School activities and the vagaries of our neighborhood soccer team to pay much attention. My older sisters noticed, and turned away uninterested. The toddler twin girls and the baby youngest sister were still living in their world of pacifiers and rag dolls. I was 7, and utterly enthralled.

I followed him to the backyard and as my father set the wheels upon a workbench that stood under a tin-roofed shed, asked with blessed naivete "What are you going to do with those wheels, Father?". Concentrating on his own mysterious thoughts or on increasing the force of his puffs upon an abused cigar, my question seemed to fall on deaf ears. Eventually he replied parsimoniously as he leaned against the workbench, "You'll see."

And I indeed saw!

A few weeks later I was the proud driver of the darnedest little toy car I had ever seen or dreamed of. Suddenly, my older sisters wanted to drive it. My brother often pushed me brusquely off the toy and got on the driver's seat. The baby sisters would follow me around like yelping puppies and I had to be careful in order not to run over their tiny toes. The neighborhood boys ceaselessly tried to bribe me with a stick of candy to let them drive it.

What I liked best about my toy was its means of propulsion--my arms. An incredible novelty in a neighborhood full of tricycles, bicycles, push- scooters and roller skates.

I thought in those days that my father was the most ingenious man in the world...At the age of 7, it was the most incredible invention I had ever seen.

Over 50 years later I realize toy cars like mine had been around since the late 1800's. I also realize with the recent emphasis on physical activity to offset the atrocious decline of physical fitness and rapidly increasing rate of obesity among children and adults the world over, the CHAMPIOT Ultra satisfies a real need and, fills a real vacuum in today's fitness and exercise market. A few years ago, along with a group of close relatives, including my son, my wife, my brother and a couple of nephews, I made a decision to produce the best model of my father's little toy car I could design. I felt compelled to carry out my father's burst of creativity.

In the last few years, we've made numerous changes to the 1947 design but the propulsion system and chassis style remained basically the same. My father greatly aided me in those early days, as he reached back into his memory and recalled how he had developed my first self-propelled toy car. Ever since, we have made, and patented some further important inventions and design refinements.

The final product, the CHAMPIOT Ultra, is being manufactured, under precise engineering specifications to achieve optimal strength, stability and safety with minimal weight. It's made of industrial steel tubing and a plastic body. It has a motorcycle chain and four inflatable tires. Its comfortable, cushioned, seat is adjustable to accommodate a range of sizes and weights. The exerciser can be transported by automobile using the same racks that are utilized to transport bicycles.

It's with great pride that we bring my father's invention to fruition with the introduction of this wonderful machine - as revolutionary today as it seemed to me back then. We trust it will bring you the same sense of wonder and delight as it did me the first day I rode it in my father's back yard.