There's a bit of retro-grouch in me as well. My S. Record Basso is as good a ride as I've ever turned a pedal on. I'm partial to Motos as well and would be very depressed if I had missed a Le Champion in such a manner.

They pop up on eBay, usually 2-300$. Infinitely superior to what you'd find in the 6-700$ range IMHO. French threading could be problematic with the BB though in the 80s as Moto became a more popular import I'm pretty sure they converted to English. Being a steel frame any of those quality bikes from this time period can be retro-fitted with Ergo/STI. A 21-22# bike is no longer state of the art but is still pretty good. The best part is that even with some thoughtful "modernizing" they still represent a tremendous bargain in our day and age where $1000 bikes are described as "entry-level."