San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-14
4-Wheel Brakes Here to Stay?
Rickenbacker Dealer Says Any Car Without Then
Now Obsolete.

shook the industry to its very founda-
tons.
The reason for four-whcel brakes |
is simple. At the present time there
is a great necessity for more safety
in driving, not only on city streets
| but on the country roads. Even rival
engineers proclaimed this Rickcnback-
err four-wheel brake "thc most beauti-
full example of fine engineering that
has ever graccd motor car. Amer
ican or European" Even casual
glance at them will toll its own story.
Already. three prominent manu-
! facturers have followed Rickenbacker
leadership by announcing four-whe"l
brakes-incidentally many more viii
| follow.
Engineers in all other plants (this
we repeat. 'all other plants'o are
! feverishly working to produce work
able four-wheel brake system without
, infringing the R;ckenbacker and GER
tain European basic patents.
This condition is DUE to the fact
that everyone suddenly seems TO want
car with four-wheels brakes and the
sales resistance on two-wheel brakes
is almost impossible to overcome.
Here 10 Stay?
Meanwhile, those unfortunate sales
, men of cars that do not have four-
wheel brakes are trying 10 explain
why they do not believe in them.
Rickenbacker absolutely assures
the public that within six months
every car, priced at $1,000 and up,
will announce four-wheel brakes-or
go out of business. They may not be
completely "out" by that time but
they will be ION the toboggan" and
headed downward. Four-wheel brakes
have been accepted as the greatest
safety insurance ever built into a mo-
tor car. Notice the words built in"
This is mighty important. 1t is some
thing you must insist upon when con-
sidering a car. that brakes are 'buiit
in and not tagged on to an old model.
Axles. front and rear, must be spe-
cially designed to insure that brakes
function properly. How will you
know? 1t is simple. when you see a
set of external contracting" brakes |
that should be your warning for, in
most cases. this is evidence that the
makers suddenly realized that the
buyers now insist on four-wheel |
brakes and hastily tried to put them
on the cheapest way and without re-
designing the axles.
This cannot be done. Rickenbacke1 !
tried it. Tried every type of brake and
all fell short of the degree of perfec-
ton which Rickenbacker policy de-
manSls.
OF the 81 makes of French cars
that are equipped with four-wheel
brakes, not one has external contract |
ing brakes-not one. And, so far as
we know, only one is automatically |
operated. Only one.
Replies to Critics.
Automobiles which have not vet |
been equipped with four-wheel brakes |
have been doing their best to knock
them and TO mislead the public into !
believing that no four-wheel brakes |
are yet manufactured which are, III !
any degree. perfect.
One manufacturer recently stated |
what he considered to be defects in /
four-wheel brakes and among his crit |
icisms he named interference with |
steering and interconnection between |
front and rear brakes.
Not one of these criticisms can be |
held. in any way. TO apply TO Ricken- /
hacker four-whecl brakes. Rickenback- !,
err four-wheel brakes cannot Interfere |
with steering for they act precisely |
the same way when turning as on a |
straight way.
Rickenbacker four-whecl brakes |
nositiyely cannot lock the front |
wheels. Rickenbacker four-whee. |
brakes always exert greater pressure |
on rear than on front brakes and can
not be changed to do otherwise.
The Rickenbacker four wheel
brake system is the only system on
which front or rear brakes can be used |
INDEPENDENTLY. Therefore you can see |
that the criticisms against four-whee'
brakes cannot be held TO apply to the
Rickenbacker brakes.
At least two manufacturers have
admitted that their engineers have
NOT vet succeeded in developing per-
feet working set of four-wheei
brakes" If such is the case these
manufacturers had better get other
engineers for the world will not waif
for a laggard.
Makers may protest and argue and
cuss-but they cannot turn back the
hands of the clock. Rickenbacker
showed the way-others must follow
whether they want to or not.
we reepat-effective this date
"any automobile without four-wneel
brakes is obsolete" Just as obsolete
as a car without a sef-starter. As one
facetious fellow who was selling
certain car remarked-'you Ricken-
hacker folk have four-wheel brakes 70
deliver while We have pamphlets. IL
stands to reason that car which!
can stop in half the distance custom
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