Reverchon Industries

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Reverchon Industries was a developer, designer and manufacturer of amusement park attractions that were sold all over the world. The company went into liquidation in September 2008, filing for bankruptcy and closing down their manufacturing and operations plant.

Its production unit was set in the French village of Samois-sur-Seine, near Fontainebleau.

Reverchon Industries is not to be confused with the companies “GRI” and “Reverchon Attraction”. These are newer companies founded primarily as parts manufacturers and not related to Reverchon Industries.

History[]

• 1929: Gaston Reverchon, a young coach builder, created his own workshop in the suburbs of Paris. The rides business began there when Gaston Reverchon thought to adapt the coachwork he used on real cars to bumper cars. At the time, bumper cars were nothing more than a steering wheel and a seat attached to a wooden board on wheels. The first Reverchon bumper-car with its metallic color and design inspired by the American cars of that period went on to the market and was an instant success.
• 1937: It occurred to Gaston Reverchon to not only make parts for bumper-car rides but the whole ride itself and that year, on the dawn of the second world war, Télécombat, a ride featuring small military airplanes, was born.
• 1956: After progress had been halted by the war, Reverchon began to provide attractions for distraction-thirsty Europeans. Joined by his sons Michel and Christian, working respectively as designer and technician ("Gaston Reverchon" became "Gaston Reverchon and Sons"), he began a second diversification, designing and producing a full range of complete rides. In 1956, they were the first to develop polyester as part of the bumper cars' coachwork.
• 1950–1971: These two decades marked a golden age for Reverchon, throughout which the company created new rides and improved old ones. The production unit was relocated to Samois-sur-Seine, where 2,000 cars and 50 rides were produced every year and a new model designed every 5 years. In 1971, 270 workers were working in the company.
• 1973: 1973 proved to be a big year for Reverchon Industries, when Christian Reverchon presented his two latest attractions in Chicago: Himalaya and Paratrooper. Here, the company understood its strength and weaknesses: the public found the rides very fun and the aesthetic pleasing but the rides took very long to set up (3 days for 3 people). It also revealed Reverchon Industries' desire to expand beyond Europe.
• 1976: In 1976, Reverchon made its first flume ride at Bagatelle Park, in Berck France.
• 1978: Having learned a lesson from 1973, Reverchon launched a bumper car system to be set up using hydraulics. Now, rather than requiring two days for six people, the owner could do the work all on his or her own.
• 1990: The first Reverchon roller coaster is installed at Le Pal in France.^[1]
• 1997: The first Crazy Mouse coaster opens at Dinosaur Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, U.S.^[2]
• 2003: During the 2003 IAAPA Expo, Alberto Zamperla and Gilles Reverchon announced Zamperla would manufacture and sell Reverchon amusement rides worldwide under a license agreement.^[3] The first coaster built under this arrangement is installed in 2004 at Six Flags Great America.^[4]
• 2005: The Zamperla and Reverchon agreement is dissolved, however Zamperla retains the rights to build and market its own spinning mouse coaster calling it the Twister Coaster. It is virtually identical to the Reverchon model except for the use of individual restraints mounted to the floor of the vehicle – the Reverchon passenger restraints pull down from overhead.
• 2008: Reverchon announced that they have filed for bankruptcy and are closing down their manufacturing and operations.^[5] On September 26, 2008 the company ceased trading. Rival roller coaster company Zamperla continues marketing the Twister Coaster.

List of roller coasters[]

As of 2021, Reverchon Industries has built 42 roller coasters around the world.^[6]

Name	Model	Park	Country	Opened	Status	Ref
Tigre de Sibérie Formerly Grand 8	Custom Coaster	Le Pal	France	1990	Operating	[7]
Wall's Twister Ride	Spinning Coaster	West Midland Safari Park	United Kingdom	1998	Operating	[8]
Crazy Mouse	Spinning Coaster	South Pier	United Kingdom	1998	Removed	[9]
	Spinning Coaster	Wiener Prater	Austria	1998	Operating	[10]
	Spinning Coaster		Japan	1998	Operating	[11]
	Spinning Coaster	Hirakata Park	Japan	1998	Operating	[12]
	Spinning Coaster		Japan	1998	Operating	[13]
Crazy Mouse	Spinning Coaster	Steel Pier Dinosaur Beach	United States	1999 1997 to 1998	Operating	[14] [15]
Exterminator	Spinning Coaster	Kennywood	United States	1999	Operating	[16]
	Spinning Coaster		Italy	2000	Removed	[17]
	Spinning Coaster	Brighton Pier	United Kingdom	2000	Operating	[18]
	Spinning Coaster		United States	2000	Removed	[19]
Formerly Treetop Twister	Spinning Coaster	Lightwater Valley	United Kingdom	2001	Removed	[20]
	Spinning Coaster		Italy	2001	Closed	[21]
	Spinning Coaster	Fårup Sommerland	Denmark	2001	Operating	[22]
	Spinning Coaster		Greece	2002	Removed	[23]
Souris Mécaniques Formerly Papillons d'Alice	Junior Spinning Coaster	Jardin d'Acclimatation	France	2002	Operating	[24]
Primeval Whirl	Spinning Coaster	Disney's Animal Kingdom	United States	2002	Removed	[25] [26]
	Spinning Coaster		Greece	2003 1998 to 2003	Removed	[27] [28]
Crazy Mouse	Spinning Coaster	DelGrosso's Amusement Park	United States	2004	Operating	[29]
Formerly Ragondingue Formerly Mouse Trap	Spinning Coaster	Pleasurewood Hills	France	2006 2000 to 2005	Operating	[30] [31] [32]
	Spinning Coaster		France	2006	Removed	[33]
	Spinning Coaster	Plopsa Coo	Belgium	2006	Removed	[34]
	Spinning Coaster	Brean Theme Park	United Kingdom	2007	Operating	[35]
Formerly Crazy Mouse	Spinning Coaster	Kongeparken Wild West World	Norway	2008 2007 1999 to 2006	Operating	[36] [37] [38]
	Custom Coaster		France	2008	Operating	[39]
	Spinning Coaster		France	2009	Operating	[40]
	Spinning Coaster	Dreamland Brean Theme Park	United Kingdom	2015 2002 to 2006	Removed	[41] [42] [43]
	Compact Spinning Coaster	Coney Beach Pleasure Park	United Kingdom	2016 2014	Removed	[44] [45]
	Junior Spinning Coaster		France	2016	Operating	[46]
	Spinning Coaster	Fantasy Island	United Kingdom	2017	Removed	[47]
	Spinning Coaster		France	2017	Operating	[48]
	Spinning Coaster	South Pier Plopsaland	United Kingdom	2018 2014 to 2017 2009 to 2010	Operating	[49] [50] [51]
Formerly Magic Mouse Formerly Fantasy Mouse	Spinning Coaster	Fantasy Island Dreamland Fantasy Island	United Kingdom	2018 2017 to 2018 2000 to 2016	Operating	[52] [53] [54] [55]
	Junior Spinning Coaster	Parc du Petit Prince	France	2019	Operating	[56]
	Compact Spinning Coaster	Barry Island Pleasure Park	United Kingdom	2019	Removed	[57]
	Gliding Coaster	Wiener Prater	Austria	2020	Removed	[58]
Mouse Coaster	Spinning Coaster		France	2020	Operating	[59]
Ratón Vacilón con Gato Comilón	Spinning Coaster	Tivoli World	Spain	2020	Removed	[60]
	Spinning Coaster - Second Version	Aussie World	Australia	2021	Under construction	[61]
Unknown Formerly Ratón Loco	Spinning Coaster	La Feria Chapultepec Magico	Netherlands	2022 1999 to 2019	Under construction	[62] [63]

References[]

Related News[]

• Firm guilty over park ride death, BBC