Here’s the 1935 patent for Hudson’s unique lifesaving failsafe brakes.
It’s wonderfully clear in both text and diagrams, explaining the purpose of dual safety. NO OTHER COMPANY EVER COPIED IT, EVEN THE ULTIMATE COPIER GM. When AMC produced Nash-based Hudsons for three years, it kept the system on the Hudsons but NEVER TRANSFERRED IT TO NASH OR RAMBLER. Only Hudson cared about the LIVES of its customers.
According to the story, chief engineer Baits was developing a hydraulic system to join the crowd. While testing it he suffered a serious crash when it failed, inspiring him to add the backup.
Hudson was a large company in ’35, so it could have afforded teams of testers. Baits did his own testing and paid when it failed. All of Baits’s patents show a similar level of personal responsibility. They were issued to Baits himself then assigned to Hudson.
GM was far more bureaucratic. It had large teams of anonymous engineers and testers, operating by rules and regulations. Following the regs mattered more than real innovation or quality control, resulting in atrocities like the Vega. Vega’s “engine” was designed to suit the strange alcohol-driven notions of GM’s president, and “tested” in a way that intentionally ignored failures. The result had to please the president, not satisfy the customers.
The Baits patent covers the entire hydraulic setup as well as the mechanical backup. First it shows an ideal version, with hydraulic lines and solid rods going to all four wheels. The hydraulics work in the usual way, while the rod pushes the brake shoes by turning a cam.
Then it shows the system as actually implemented, with the backup acting only on the rear wheels via rods.
His description of ideal vs practical:
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Referring to Fig. 7, there is illustrated a somewhat modified mechanical system operable in conjunction with the hydraulic system through the pedal. In this instance the mechanical system is applied solely to the rear wheel brakes. In this embodiment the hydraulic system is the same as that previously described. The cross shaft for the mechanical system is, however, connected through arms and cables solely to the cam actuating arms of the rear wheels. The construction otherwise is substantially identical to that previously shown and described, and hence when the foot pedal is depressed the mechanical mechanism will actuate the cams mounted in the rear wheel brakes.
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Last month I bought a ’48 owners manual and showed the implementation there. The ’48 had the handbrake pull under the dash instead of the older floor lever, and used cables instead of rods.
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Irrelevant personal note repeated: I wish I had known this in the ’70s when I had one crash and several close calls due to failed hydraulics in several different cars. I remember noticing some good used Hudsons and dismissing them as uncool. A Hudson wasn’t nearly as hippie-cool as a VW, but it would have been vastly safer in every way, from brakes to crash resistance and handling. The internet has some good points. Before the web many historical facts were effectively unavailable unless you had special access.
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