Were vehicles ever available with manual disc brakes?

[SC Maintenance]

I had a 1975 F100 full size pickup with disk on front, drum on back, manual brake - no vacuum boost. They worked fine. I actually feel they were more responsive and easier to pump them a little when needed due to no ABS.

 

[hank2]

My father used to tell tales of adventures in his first car, c1940. A $25 Model A Ford with true mechanical non-hydraulic brakes.

My current '82 Dodge D150, essentially a Miser model, has non boosted front single pot discs and rear drums. For some reason it has power steering. You plan your stops. Downshifting helps.

I guess I've owned a number of non-assisted brake cars lifetime. I had a '68 GTO with both non power brakes and manual steering. Coupled with a heavy clutch pedal, you developed great arm and leg muscles. It did have an AM radio and hide-away headlight covers.

 

[k1xv]

For model year 1965, the Corvette went for the first time to disc brakes, all four wheels, and they were not power assisted.

 

[JTK]

My dad had an 1988 GMC S15 with zero options he bought used when I was a kid. No power steering nor brakes. disc front, drum rear. No AC....

1988 and no vac boosted brakes. I would have never guessed it was still a thing past the early 80s.

 

[paulo57509]

IIRC, my cousin had a '68 Chevelle with manual disc brakes.

 

[PF52]

I had two Novas.... One with front discs, and one with all drums. No power assist on either.

 

[Vaca]

Late to this thread, but here's an interesting one: my in-laws owned a nursery/florist up in Bergen County NJ and they had a couple of full size vans, one of which was an ~1988 Ford Econoline with the 300 cu. in straight six that had non-power assisted brakes and no power steering. And the best part it was used routinely for deliveries in Little Italy and Chinatown and throughout Manhattan! Note that the streets down there are crowded and narrow. That thing was a beast in every sense of the word - a beast to stop and steer and a beast in that it lasted for a long time, probably ~300,000 miles. And never an accident! Driving it was an active endeavor, you didn't just sit back and cruise!

 

[GMBoy]

My 78 Jeep CJ7 has manual brakes - discs up front and drums in the rear.

 

[Bud_One]

I had a 1988 Chevy S-10 as well , 2.5 Iron duke , manual 5 speed, with no power brakes.. had front disc and rear drum.
Didn't have air vents in the dash, no a/c , no radio , nor 12 volt outlet.
Was a stripped down truck , but I loved it.

 

[Hermann]

The 1973 Chevy Vega GT I owned had hydraulic manual front disc brakes.

 

[Cujet]

Early Porsches had manual disk brakes.

My Porsche 914-6 had 4 wheel, manual disk brakes. They were a bit on the wonky side, but when quality pads were chosen, and "just bedded in" new, they worked well, with a firm, hard pedal. However, the pads did wear oddly, despite my best efforts, and were useless junk in short order. They lasted no more than 5000 miles for me.

There are so many things we take for granted today, quality brakes are among those things. Early systems were not so good.

 

[zray1]

65/66 Mustang GT and 65/66 Shelby Mustang GT-350’s both had manual front disc and rear drums. The front manual discs were also a standalone option on the non-GT’s. The front manual disc used a 4 piston Kelsey Hayes caliper that was a great performer, especially with better pads.

Z

 

[barryh]

Honda made some motorcycles with disc brakes that were manual in every respect. There was no servo assistance but then there never was on motorcycles, but the worst aspect was they were cable operated rather than hydraulic. They were not a success being tricky to set up and inferior to a good drum brake.

 

[jhs914]

My 1972 Porsche 914 had 4 wheel disc brakes, no boost. It also had manual steering. It didn't need either since it only weighed a bit over 2,000 lbs. and was mid-engined. The best handling car I've ever owned.