Henri Perrot (21 August 1883 – 1961, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French engineer who was one of the pioneers of the

automobile industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...

from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He holds numerous patents in the field of automotive drum/shoe braking.

Early life

Henri Perrot was born on 21 August 1883 at Place Saint-Charles,

, the son of Françoise Esterle and François Perrot who worked at the

Brasier Brasier was a French automobile manufacturer, based in the Paris conurbation, and active between 1905 and 1930. The firm began as Richard-Brasier in 1902, and became known as Chaigneau-Brasier in 1926. __TOC__ Origins Charles-Henri Brasier wo ...

car factory. He studied at Jean-Baptiste-Say High School before gaining a scholarship to the

Arts et Métiers ParisTech Arts et Métiers ParisTech is a French engineering and research institute of higher education. It is a ''grande école'', recognized for leading in the fields of mechanics and industrialization. Founded in 1780, it is among the oldest French ins ...

engineering school in 1888 at the age of 16. When he left school in 1902, he went to Brasier and helped design the car that would win the Gordon Bennett Cup in 1904 and 1905. The car was driven by

Léon Théry Léon Théry (16 April 1879 – 8 March 1909) was a French racing driver, nicknamed "Le Chronometer", who won the premier European race, the Gordon Bennett Cup, in both 1904 and 1905. Career Théry started out as a mechanic which gave ...

. For this Henri Perrot receives the Grand Bronze Medal of the Conseil national des professions de l'automobile (CSCA), "as a reward for the service rendered to the French Automobile Industry, contributing in a large extent to the construction of the car that retained Gordon Bennett Trophy."

Argyll

In 1908, Henri Perrot left Brasier and went to work for

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire Alexandria ( sco, The Vale,
gd, Alexandria) is a town in

, Scotland and while there filed his first patent for a system of front wheels brakes (British Patent No. 6807 March 18, 1910 by Henri Perrot and Rubury). At the London Olympia Motor Show in November 1910, a 12-hp Argyll car with pedal-operated front brakes and lever-operated rear brakes was displayed. At the 1912 London Show, Argyll introduced a 15 hp car with brakes on all four wheels simultaneously operated by either pedal or lever at the choice of the driver. This system was patented in the United States on 21 October 1913. In 1912 and 1913 he designed a car for Argyll with a valveless engine and with a worm-gear rear axle. In May 1913 the car beat the world record for duration and distance for 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 hours, and 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 miles. In August 1914, at the declaration of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 1500 Argyll cars equipped with the Perrot braking system had been made in the United Kingdom.

Adoption by other companies

In 1919,

Delage Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...

licensed the Perrot braking system and fitted it to their 6-cylinder chassis, it was also used by

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

on a car designed by Marc Birkigt with a mechanical servo and

Henri Rougier Henri Louis Rougier, (28 October 1876 – July 1956)Champagne, Berc ...

reworked a limited quantity of his 1913/14

Turcat-Méry Turcat-Méry was a French motor manufacturer from 1899 until 1928. It is now celebrated as the marque that won the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally, but in its prime it was also known for Grand Prix racing and for producing ''The Car of the Connoisseur ...

chassis including adding 4-wheel brakes using Henri Perrot's latest drum/shoe brake design. In June 1919

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

obtained a license for the braking system. Negotiations took place in 1920 with Renault, but were unsuccessful. However, at the 1920 Motor Show, Henri Perrot demonstrated his brakes on a Renault vehicle resulting in a license being taken up by them in 1921. By 1925, more than fifty car brands around the world were using the braking system. At the 1924 24 Hours of Le Mans the first three cars (1st Bentley 3 Litre, 2nd and 3rd Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6) were all equipped with Perrot brakes.

Bendix Corporation

In 1924, after meeting at a European auto show,

Vincent Hugo Bendix Vincent Hugo Bendix (August 12, 1881 – March 27, 1945) was an American inventor and industrialist. Vincent Bendix was a pioneer and leader in both the automotive and aviation industries during the 1920s and 1930s.''Vincent Bendix. Enshrine ...

acquired the license to manufacture Perrot's shoe-brake patents and set up the

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

with a factory in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

.Bendix Brakes, History

Later life

Henri Perrot retired in 1949 from Bendix. He remained as a consulting engineer for the French branch of Lockheed in Saint-Ouen and also Ame du Ferodo. He was president of the

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International, formerly named the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a United States-based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries. SAE Internatio ...

from 1950 to 1953 and became a chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honour on 13 February 1949 and commander of the Spanish Civil Merite in October 1952. In 1956, he co-authored the book "The Braking of Motor Vehicles on the Road" published by Eyrolles in

. He died in 1961 in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

References

External links

Bendix History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrot, Henri 1883 births 1961 deaths French automotive pioneers French automobile designers French automotive engineers Arts et Métiers ParisTech alumni Bendix Corporation people