disk brakes in history???

[JohnG]

hi
I apologize for this not relating directly to TBirds...it came up
in a discussion recently...

Question: what was the first American production car to have
disk brakes as standard equipment???

Responses to this have ranged from the 63 Studebaker Avanti to some
'55 TBirds to 1939 Crosleys!!

Evidence suggests that Dunlop got the patent around 1952 while the
idea itself goes back to almost 1900. Also that Bendix was an early subcontractor.

Anyone with a good history background out there??? Indirectly it relates to Squarebirds in that they COULD have had disks...

thanks!

john - MA
58 Hardtop

[Guest]

RE: disk brakes in history???

Hi,
Chrysler 1950. The Town & Country had a pioneering four-wheel discbrake system as standard. Encyclopedia of American cars.

[Alexander]

RE: disk brakes in history???

I believe Crosley was among the first to have a modern version of disc brakes in 1949. Crosley and Chrysler both had a problem with corrosion of the units, so disc brakes got an undeservedly bad reputation.

1898 was the first use of disc brakes in a car which happened to be an American electric car. http://www.motorera.com/history/hist07.htm

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Alexander]

RE: disk brakes in history???

The Squarebirds were initially proposed to have an aluminum engine, disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and MacPherson strut suspension. Unfortunately Robert McNamara put the skids on that and forced Thunderbird desinger to use as many off the shelf Ford parts as possible. The Thundebird, though smaller, was heavier than the Ford, so the drum brakes it came equipped with were horribly undersized, especially in 1958.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top