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Probably a silly question, but I have seen several references to these lately but I still don't know what the difference is between a fly-off handbrake and a standard one. Anyone able to enlighten me?
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I had one car with a fly off handbrake, a 1948 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster (I had to get that in !!) The brake lever had a button on the end which you depressed to hold the brake on after engaging it.
To release you just pulled the lever slightly in the "on" direction which released the locking pawl and it "flew off".
I don't know if any modern cars have this arrangement, but I think they were fairly common on pre and just postwar sports cars.
It was quicker to release as you did not have to hold a button down while letting the brake off all the way. Also if just stopping briefly, on a hill for example, you could just hold the lever "on" and just let go when you wanted to move.
Very convenient once you got used to it.
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I knew someone would know the answer. Wonder why they died out?
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No production cars have this but ,all or almost all, rally cars have this for aiding handbrake turns. You only press the button if you want to engage the handbrage. The rest of the time it is just a rear break lever. Regards Peter
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very common in rallying circles, particularly on RWD cars - a quick grab of the handbrake on a gravel corner helps break traction and swing the car round, but yuo don't have to touch the button, so there is less chance of accidentally locking the handbrake on
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Similar in effect to early Xantias. You pull the handbrake on, walk away and the car rolls away....
Steve
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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A genuine 1948 XK120-that is very,very rare;they were only introduced at the 1948 Motor Show and were virtually hand built(mainly for export)until they went into mass-production in 1950.The only car I ever owned with a fly-off h/brake was an Allard M1 dhc(also 1948).
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I had the fortune to acquire one of the rare aluminium bodied preproduction cars. It had originally been a LHD model - the majority were for export - but been brought back to UK and converted to RHD. Alloy body over ash frame.
It had got into a very poor state and was a non runner when I bought it for £80 - aah those were the days - not long after I bought my wife to be's first car a 1937 Austin Big 7 for £4-00 (battery charge, new set of plugs and away you go).
I sold the XK a few years later for IIRC £400. It later got into the hands of Paul Skilleter motoring journalist.
I don't know if he still owns it. It was featured in Practical Classics Sept 1983 with cover photo.
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The only car I've driven with one was a 1979 Aston Martin Vantage. Fantastic idea, takes seconds to get used to and is much easier to use and more useful than a 'standard' handbrake.
I had a few more problems with the back-to-front gearbox though (reverse is away from you, 1st is towards you).
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So was the change on my Allard-column change box converted to Floor-1st was towards you and forwards-reverse towards you and back and so on.
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Triumph Spitfires & GT6 from the 1960's had fly-off handbrakes.
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