In message <940311125234.2020e238@ualr.edu> you write:
>I don't think Hispano-Suiza made cars, only engines. The engines were
>used in some high-performance autos, but were originally aircraft
>powerplants.
No, Hispano-Suiza made some lovely cars. They had a big swan (I think) as the
mascot. Hispano-Suiza was responsible for designing (in the 20s) the
marvelous braking system on my '51 Bentley (insert LBC Content here) whereby
the driver presses on the brake pedal, which moves a rod, which pulls on a
lever attached to the side of the gearbox, which forces a clutch together,
which causes another rod to pull, which actuates the hydraulic master cylinder
(under the driver's seat) to activate the front brakes.
The rear brakes are a strictly mechanical linkage -- pedal to rod to rod to
brake.
The nice featire of this bizarre gearbox-driven servo is that the amount of
additional force is proportional to your road speed. It's nice to have some
boost on the freeway (esp. when your car weighs 300 stone (that's 37 cwt for
the stone-impaired (that's British cwt, of course))).
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