Peter Roberts Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) I am trying to discover what brakes were fitted to the original (ie. as originally manufactured) Aston Martin DB5 and have tried Google without success. Am I correct in believing the original Aston Martin DB5 has drum brakes? A search shows all sorts of disc brakes, but these look to be replacements or upgrades. PR Edited December 15, 2019 by Peter Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 DB5 had Girling disc brakes, as previously only fitted to the DB4 GT... beat, M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 https://www.ultimatespecs.com/car-specs/Aston-Martin/17722/Aston-Martin-DB5-.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 I spent hours working in the 4-wheel disk brakes on my father's DB-4. Can't imagine drums would have been fitted on the follow-on model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Roberts Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 Gentlemen, thank you very much. I had no idea disc brakes were in use so early. Much appreciated, PR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Are you specifically interested only in the use by Aston Martin? Mike Hawthorn's Championship Year tells how Peter Collins insisted on disc brakes for his personal Ferrari (a 250GT?) and after Peter's death in 1958 Mike arranged to have them transferred to his Grand Prix Dino 246. This must have predated the Aston DB4GT by a few years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 AFAIK, Aston Martin used dics brakes from the beginning of DB4 production in 1958, initially Dunlop discs but soon replaced by a Girling system. Steve. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elderly Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 The first really successful use of disk brakes on cars would have been by Jaguar on their C Types at Le Mans in 1953. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) You might be interested in the original September 1964 Autocar road test of the DB5 Open the link in a new tab and click on each page to enlarge - they generally come up in two stages of enlargement Edited January 9, 2020 by Work In Progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 The Napier-Railton at Brooklands has disc brakes (rear only as far as I could see) fitted in late 40s for (aircraft) parachute braking testing. But @elderly is right about first well known use being Le Mans Jags. In his books IIRC Hawthorn suggests Ferrari’s antipathy to discs was “not invented here” syndrome; pretty much everyone in the motor trade and racing knew discs were the way ahead from mid-50s, though it would be a while before some manufacturers could be bothered -BL I’m looking at you, cooking Minis were still drums all round well into the 80’s! I still have the special spanner for the miserable fortnightly adjustment, though it’s fortunately remained unused for 35 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 The first high volume cars fitted with disc brakes in the UK were the 1961 Ford Classic (front wheels only) and 1959 MkII Jaguar (all round). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Roberts Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Work in Progress - thank you, but no link (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Link is on the line part way down the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 I have a 1960 Mark 2 Jaguar, it has a badge on the rear bumper warning other drivers the car in front has disk brakes. Presumably this was to stop them driving into the back of it when the Jaguar stopped quicker than they could ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancona Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 I believe that the first production saloon with all round disks (Dunlop) was the Jensen 541 De Luxe in 1957, same brakes that Jaguar later fitted to the Mk2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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