About Bendix
Driving innovation to meet industry demands has been a company tradition since its founding by Vincent Bendix in 1924. While this innovator’s earliest automotive interest prompted him to a career in car manufacturing, extreme competition quickly pushed him out of the market. He became determined, however, to solve the problem associated with starting automobile engines at the time and soon saw success with his invention of the starter drive in 1911. Bendix advertised it as "the mechanical hand that cranks your car."
1924 In 1924, after meeting French engineer Henri Perrot at a European auto show, Bendix acquired the license to Perrot's shoe-brake patents. Vincent Bendix embarked upon a remarkable career with the launch of the Bendix Engineering Works and the Bendix® trademark, a brand name that is still recognized and used long after the founder’s death in 1945.
The cornerstone of the company’s success was the production of braking system components for automobiles, planes, spacecraft and commercial vehicles. Bendix brake pads are used in case, vans, buses, agricultural and construction machinery, planes, golf-carts and even bicycles.
In July 1969, one giant leap for mankind also became a giant leap for Bendix as Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin Jr. became the first men to walk on the moon, carrying scientific instrument packages designed and built by Bendix®. The Bendix® Corporation, as it was then known, was heavily involved in space missions during the late 60s and 70s and had a Bendix Launch Support Division located at the Kennedy Space Center.
The brand’s greatest innovations have been in vehicle braking and In 1962, Bendix® supplied the first four-wheel disc brakes for a U.S. production car – the high performance Studebaker Avanti.
In 1967, dual-braking master cylinders pioneered by Bendix became standard equipment on all U.S. cars. That same year, Bendix reached a milestone when it manufactured its 200-millionth automotive brake shoe.
Only a few years later in 1971, Bendix introduced the industry to Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), with the first four-wheel ABS system being used on the Chrysler Imperial.
Today the Bendix brand belongs to General Electric and makes all sorts of braking system parts, such as calipers, rotors, drums, brake pads, hydraulic component for brakes and clutch, installation kits, as well as brake fluids.
Parts made by Bendix are original equipment for such manufacturers as Audi, BMW, Citroen, Honda, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Ford. Bendix makes parts for over 95% of cars out there.