Vintage 1970s Furygan Leather Racing Jacket – Éclair Zip, Made in France

Nobody sleeps at the Bol d’Or. It’s twenty-four hours of racing, and in the seventies more than a hundred thousand people came to watch, with Frenchmen for heroes. By three in the morning the cold is coming up off the track. A rider is tucked in flat behind the screen, knees in and chin on the tank, and his leather folds across his back like an accordion. On his chest is a round orange badge with a black panther.

The panther belonged to Jacques Segura. He had been working leather since he was fourteen, and he flew for the French air force on his military service. In 1969, in Nîmes, he was making gloves for skiers and goalkeepers, and then for riders. He called the firm Furygan, from fury and gant, the French for glove, and he borrowed the panther from the insignia of a French parachute regiment. The racers noticed. This jacket comes from that first decade, the Bol d’Or years. It was made in France and carries the roaring panther head on a red leather label.

Everything about it was decided by the crouch. The main zip runs on the diagonal, on an Éclair slider, so that nothing digs into your chest when you lie down on the tank. The front overlaps and snaps shut at the neck and the hem, so the wind can’t find a way in at speed. The cuffs zip closed for the same reason. Ribbed panels run down the back and sides so the jacket gives as you tuck in, and the elbows are shaped to stay bent, because on a race bike they always are.

The colour does a job too. Orange yokes sweep across the shoulders, and orange panels run down the sides and along the sleeves. That’s bright enough to pick out at three in the morning. The hand pockets are piped in orange, and each has a small yellow enamel panther for a pull.

Turn it round and the panther is there in full, black leather outlined in orange, stalking across the back. Inside are a quilted lining, a zipped leather pocket and the red Furygan label, Made in France.

Zip it to the collar, tuck in, and see if you’re still awake at dawn.

Condition & Restoration

Excellent vintage condition. It came into the workshop sound and it has stayed that way: supple leather with natural creasing and the kind of wear that belongs to a jacket of this age, and orange panels that have kept their colour. The Éclair front zip, the pocket and cuff zips and the snaps all work as they should, and the quilted lining is clean and intact. Specialist cleaned and conditioned by hand in the workshop, and ready to wear.

Key Features

• Furygan racing jacket, made in France, 1970s
• Black leather with orange shoulder yokes, side panels and sleeve panels
• Asymmetric front with Éclair-stamped zip, snapping at the neck and hem
• Ribbed panels down the back and sides
• Shaped elbows
• Round orange panther badge on the chest, large panther appliqué on the back
• Orange-piped hand pockets with yellow enamel panther zip pulls
• Zipped cuffs
• Stand collar with throat tab
• Quilted lining with zipped inner leather pocket
• Red leather Furygan Made in France label

Size & Fit

• Chest, armpit to armpit: 24" / 61 cm
• Shoulders, seam to seam: 20" / 50.8 cm
• Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: 26" / 66 cm
• Underarm seam to cuff: 19" / 48.3 cm
• Back length, base of collar to hem: 26.5" / 67.3 cm
• Waist, laid flat across: 20" / 50.8 cm
• Cuff width, laid flat: 5" / 12.7 cm with the zip open, 4" / 10.2 cm zipped

Best suited to: 44" chest, regular with room / Size L–XL, or a 46" chest for a slim fit

Fit: Labelled a 48, but men were smaller in the seventies and this was cut for the bike, so it wears closer than the tag suggests, more like a modern slim 46. A 44" chest will have room to spare, and a 46" chest will wear it trim and close, the way it was meant to sit tucked in over the tank. The cuffs are snug. The ribbed panels give it room to move when you lean forward, and the quilted lining adds warmth without bulk.

Please go by the measurements above, and compare them with a jacket you already own.