Vincent Bendix 1882-1945

Vincent Bendix was born in Moline, Illinois on August 12, 1882. In 1901, Vincent Bendix was hired by Glenn Curtiss to work on the Torpedo motorcycle, and later in 1904, Bendix worked as general sales manager for Holsman Automobile Company. As a consequence, Vincent Bendix learned all about the internal combustion engine and decided make a career in automobile design.
Between 1907 and 1909, Vincent Bendix designed the Bendix Motor Buggy and started an automobile firm. Seven thousand Bendix buggies were sold, however, Bendix had to declare bankruptcy and went back to work selling Cadillacs. In 1910, Vincent Bendix patented the Bendix drive for electric starters, an improvement to the hand cranked starters of the time. The first automobile to use the Bendix starter drive was the 1914 Chevrolet "Baby Grand". The Bendix starter became a standard in all cars produced in the United States.
Fortunes improved for the inventor and in 1923, Vincent Bendix bought the patent rights to Perrot brakes and controls and started the Bendix Brake Company. Bendix turned his research towards creating a more efficient braking system for automobiles and created the first four wheel automotive brake system
In 1929, Vincent Bendix started the Bendix Aviation Corporation and later invented the pressure carburetor for aircraft engines. By 1938, Bendix's pressure carburetor was installed on almost every American aircraft.
In 1931, Bendix established the Transcontinental Bendix Air Race. In 1942, Vincent Bendix started his last enterprise, Bendix Helicopters, Inc. (1942).