Duesenberg used hydraulic brakes on its Model A in 1921. Ford did not use hydraulic brakes until 1939. Other manufacturers were somewhere in between.
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Chrysler introduced hydraulic 4 wheel brakes in 1924, which made it the first American marque with a modern braking system that could be purchased by someone who wasnāt super-wealthy.
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Swell.
My point is that the mechanical backup was required by federal law, and thatās why it was called an āemergency brakeā.
I canāt find that requirement. Do you have a source?
I presume by āmechanical backupā you mean cable-operated. Most of the early cars I think used cable operated brakes, which probably worked well on a functional level, albeit probably had to press w/more force on the brake pedal. Eventually a cable would break and need replacement. My late-70ās VW Rabbitās clutch linkage the same, used a cable, and it worked flawlessly until one day the cable broke. Replacing the cable, $35 & 15 minute job. I did have to press a little harder on the clutch pedal to effect a shift, compared to my hydraulic-brake Corolla, but not that much harder.
Early cars had a foot pedal as well as a hand brake. Typically the foot pedal braked the driveshaft and the hand braked the wheel brakes.
So the backup was already in place even in the earliest of cars.
Calling it a parking brake was advised by the legal departments of car makers since it was far less powerful than the full system. Still the same cable operated system
Now those emergency or parking brakes are electrically operated on some cars. No cables, just a small electric motor that applies the rear brakes.
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No, I donāt have a source. Itās just what I was told in the '60s.
No, I donāt mean cable operated. I mean a mechanical linkage, not a cable.
Iām certainly not an authority on the brakes of cars from a hundred years ago. This is stuff I was told years ago by mechanics that worked on those cars.
A cable IS a mechanical linkage by definition. Cable brakes were used as primary apply mechanisms on many early cars.
Brakes and other safety systems were not regulated by the US until 1967.
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Yes, mechanical, rather than hydraulic or electrical/electronic.
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My understanding is the main mechanical linkage was by cable in most pre-hydraulic systems, but it wouldnāt have to be done that way, could presumably use metal rods, or other shaped parts. Somehow the motion from the brake pedal has to end up at the part with the braking surface is all.
There were some by metal rods. There were combinations of cables, pulleys and tension and torsion rods.
The key to adding brakes to the front wheels was developing a mechanism that doesnāt inadvertently apply the front brakes when your turn the steering wheel.
BTW The first power brakes operated on a 4 wheel cable system. A small drum brake was energized by the brake pedal and that small brake pulled all 4 cables harder than a personās foot could. Also the first to apply all 4 wheels with one pedal rather than a pedal and hand lever. Made by Hispano-Suiza in the 1919 and licensed to Rolls-Royce.
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I stand corrected.
I was referring to mechanical rods. Iāve never seen or heard of a car with a cable used as a service brake. Parking / emergency brake: sure. Iād never trust a cable for normal service brake use on anything with a motor, even the cables on bicycle brakes are suspect, Ive seen many fail and you undoubtedly have too. Motorcycles use such cables for cluttch operation, butIāve never seen one on a brake.
In any case, I was relating what Iād been told many years ago. My apologies if it was not correct.
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Cable makes it a lot easier. Metal rods donāt work very well in twists and turns of a long run.
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Just trying to inform, not criticize.
My first motorcycle (a 71 Honda) had cable brakes with drum brakes on each end! All my bikes, of course.
Cables can be a reliability issue but no more so than hydraulic seals, Failure, in either case, is bad. But with a cable brake system in a car, one failure leaves you 3 brakes. Hydraulic failure, pre 1967 left you with no brakes except that cable e-brake. In '67 we got dual master cylinders so a failure only affected half the system.
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thatās a āpawlā. /pedantic
Back in the day, I had a Trans Am with a manual transmission. The lever-operated parking/emergency brake was great against tailgaters: drop two gears with the clutch in, yank the brake handle while holding the button (so the ratchet pawl didnāt engage). That slowed you abruptly without the brake lights going on. Then you could drop the brake and the clutch and take off, while the tailgater was still stomping his brakes. Using an E-brake while rolling doesnāt let you control the pressure, so itās not as good for that. And my mighty 1.5l Turbo isnāt quite the same as a 4Bbl V-8. Alas.
Yeah if that bothers you then you might want to skip a lot of my post as I have a neurological issue causing my hands among other things to shake and I either hit the same key multiple times or donāt hit the key at all, I prof read most of they time and spell check helps but I do miss words from time to timeā¦ Also I am a mechanic not an English majorā¦ 
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No worries, I have one of those too, in my case, stupid. ā¦ lol ā¦
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Itās not a parking brake or an emergency brake. Itās a drift brake!
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