Firsts

I was intrigued by the letter from Rob Connearney in the August issue of Vintage Racecar. Crosley Hot Shots were, indeed, fitted with Goodyear-Hawley “spot” disc brakes for a spell, but these were prone to bind and were replaced by Bendix drum brakes. Crosley was the first, but the system was flawed.

Frederick William Lanchester patented a form of disc brake in 1902, but there had been earlier experiments. Brake calipers acting on the wheel rim of a bicycle uses the same principle as a disc brake. There is a problem with “firsts” that lead nowhere. In 1906, Spyker built a Grand Prix car with a six-cylinder engine and four-wheel-drive, a double first, but Spyker never touched 4WD again.