Page 8 - ATZ WORLDWIDE

HISTORY BRAKES Brakes

Thinking About The ability to be able to stop in precisely the

right place at any time was essential even for
Slowing Down the pioneers of motoring. This requirement
led to the growth of a development discipline
that has made a major contribution to road
safety. When looking through old issues of
ATZ, it is the innovations in the field of braking
systems that catch the eye.

1924 Fritz Nallinger, winner of the Swiss Alps Rally, in a
Mercedes 16/50, which was fitted with compressed air
brakes for the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1925 (© Daimler)

he ongoing development of the many ideas
from the early days of the motor car soon led
T to a circular argument. One new development
gave rise to the next and also had an impact on the
next-but-one. For example, in the 1920s cars could
already travel faster than 80 km/h, but their brakes
were not really adequate for this kind of speed.
Bosch took on the challenge of resolving this
life-threatening problem and launched its servo
brake system for commercial vehicles in 1927. Knorr-
Bremse AG was also working on a solution at the
same time. In ATZ 2/1926 A. Riedel described a
www.atz-magazine.com/120-years compressed air brake for cars that was presented at