2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Now I remember the car with the worst brakes. I repaired it with a friend when we were in school.

It was a Citroen CV2. It needed a new gearbox. We called junkyards for a used gearbox and they asked us if with disc brakes or drum brakes. That question was obviously very confusing when buying a gearbox. It turned out on that car the brakes are mounted on the gearbox. Crazy French design...

 

 

From a manufacturing point of view, it is a brilliant design - modular assemblies give the lowest cost. Way ahead of its time those pesky French engineers!

San Francisco, late 1970's. I had just bought a junker Ford Mustang circa 1965.  Automatic transmission, defective parking brake.  Coming down a long hill towards Fisherman's Wharf, the brake pedal went to the floor.  Traffic light at the bottom of the hill turned green just as I sailed through. Slight incline in the next two blocks brought me to a halt. 

 

One of the slaves had failed. Two weeks later the master gave out as I was driving up a hill. I pulled over, got out, walked away for good. Sold it "As Is, Where Is".

 

All because I thought classic cars were cool, and I had so little money.

 

But that's what car loans are for. I never again bought a used car of any sort. 

10 hours ago, mistral53 said:

I have to agree with the OP - my 455 SD Trans Am had the most ridiculous failure parading as brakes of all cars I ever owned. Ventilated disks the size of saucers in the front, drum brakes in the rear.........of course for tottering around at 55 MPH was all they were designed for.

I put a Wilwood 4 pot caliper/alloy hubs/bells conversion on mine, didn't make much difference....????

4 minutes ago, mahjongguy said:

San Francisco, late 1970's. I had just bought a junker Ford Mustang circa 1965.  Automatic transmission, defective parking brake.  Coming down a long hill towards Fisherman's Wharf, the brake pedal went to the floor.  Traffic light at the bottom of the hill turned green just as I sailed through. Slight incline in the next two blocks brought me to a halt. 

 

One of the slaves had failed. Two weeks later the master gave out as I was driving up a hill. I pulled over, got out, walked away for good. Sold it "As Is, Where Is".

 

All because I thought classic cars were cool, and I had so little money.

 

But that's what car loans are for. I never again bought a used car of any sort. 

Be worth a lot of money now, plus can buy a brake upgrade for any classic....

That particular Mustang wasn't special in any way (other than being homicidal) and it was from back East so it was well rusted.

 

This only happened to me because my previous car, a 1964 Triumph TR4, completely original and great condition, got stolen and parted out.  ???? 

1 minute ago, mahjongguy said:

That particular Mustang wasn't special in any way (other than being homicidal) and it was from back East so it was well rusted.

 

This only happened to me because my previous car, a 1964 Triumph TR4, completely original and great condition, got stolen and parted out.  ???? 

That TR would have rusted out too......????

The Triumph, about 13 years old at the time, had been imported directly from the UK to California.  No salt on California roads except in the Sierras.

 

Being a British product, the TR4 was more likely to have bolts fall off, or the electrics fizzle.

8 minutes ago, mahjongguy said:

The Triumph, about 13 years old at the time, had been imported directly from the UK to California.  No salt on California roads except in the Sierras.

 

Being a British product, the TR4 was more likely to have bolts fall off, or the electrics fizzle.

And rattle your teeth.....????

2 hours ago, mistral53 said:

From a manufacturing point of view, it is a brilliant design - modular assemblies give the lowest cost. Way ahead of its time those pesky French engineers!

Lost cost and probably lower brake force.

There is a reason why most cars have the brakes right at the wheels.

25 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Lost cost and probably lower brake force.

There is a reason why most cars have the brakes right at the wheels.

Nah, not really.  Inboard brakes were a fashion for a while for lower unsprung weight.  In addition to Citroen, Lotus Elan, Jag E type, XJ6, Rover P6, Alfa GTV, Alfasud etc. all used this type of design.  Generally brake force was similar to conventional design but maintenance access and cooling was not as good so not common any more.  

13 minutes ago, Jitar said:

Nah, not really.  Inboard brakes were a fashion for a while for lower unsprung weight.  In addition to Citroen, Lotus Elan, Jag E type, XJ6, Rover P6, Alfa GTV, Alfasud etc. all used this type of design.  Generally brake force was similar to conventional design but maintenance access and cooling was not as good so not common any more.  

Thanks for the information. It makes sense.

A Reliant Robin in my early days before having a car license, went to stop at a junction on to a busy A road, nowt happened, drove round in circles waiting for a gap in the traffic, got home to find a pin had come out of a clevis, meaning the brake pedal wasn't connected to anything!