The question of which car first featured standard disc brakes is more complicated than you might think. While some American automakers were early to the party, it was a pair of European brands that ultimately made them mainstream. It’s a story of innovation, racing, and a little bit of French quirkiness.
In 1949, Chrysler introduced a unique “double disc” system, known as the Ausco Lambert, on its Imperial. This system was standard on the limousine and an expensive option on other Chryslers. These brakes were a legit upgrade — but also overly complicated. And let’s be honest — calling a stretched-out executive limo the first to make them standard feels a bit disingenuous.
That same year, the Crosley Hot Shot, a small and sporty convertible, was the first American car to be fitted with disc brakes on all four wheels as an option. However, these brakes, originally designed for aircraft, proved unreliable for automotive use and were ultimately pulled from production and replaced with traditional drum brakes. So close, but again — hard to call it a first if the system couldn’t cut it in the real world.
As innovative as these early American efforts were, they were ultimately footnotes in the history of disc brakes. To find the true pioneer of standard disc brakes, we have to look across the pond.
The European revolution
The 1950s saw European automakers take the lead in disc brake development, largely thanks to the world of motorsports. In 1953, a Jaguar C-Type equipped with Dunlop disc brakes won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Mille Miglia, proving the technology’s superiority on the racetrack. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. These victories, and others like them, helped popularize disc brakes and accelerate their development for road cars. Legendary racer Stirling Moss was instrumental in this, as detailed in the documentary “The Racers That Stopped the World,” which shows how Moss and Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis developed the technology.
While Jaguar was proving the mettle of disc brakes in racing, French automaker Citroën was preparing to bring them to the masses. In 1955, it unveiled the revolutionary DS, a car so far ahead of its time, it might as well have been from another planet — and in some ways, it still is. The DS was the first car to feature modern caliper-type front disc brakes as standard equipment in a mass-produced vehicle. Unlike the sealed, convoluted American setups, the DS’s brakes were exposed to the air, which allowed for better cooling and more consistent performance — a key reason why modern cars stopped using drum brakes. The DS’s innovative braking system, along with its futuristic styling and hydropneumatic suspension, made it a true automotive icon.
The braking point
But what about the Triumph TR3? Surely a few readers are already hovering over the “Comment” button. Yes, the 1956 Triumph TR3 was announced around the same time as the DS, in October of 1955. And yes, the British brand experimented with disc brakes at the 1955 Le Mans (in TR2s). And yes, Citroën only produced a lousy 69 DS cars in 1955. However, the first TR3s with disc brakes didn’t roll out of the Canley-based factory until September of 1956. So while Triumph talked the talk, Citroën quietly beat it to the punch — just barely, but in production-car history, barely still counts.
The Citroën DS may have been the first mass-produced car with standard front disc brakes, but it obviously wasn’t the last — or the only impactful one. In 1957, Jaguar made four-wheel disc brakes standard on the XK150, a move that helped solidify the technology. Even so, the DS remains a legend for being so ahead of its time; it’s one of those cars that made it cool to be weird.
The combination of racing success and production innovation had proven that disc brakes were the future. It all started with a quirky French sedan that dared to be different. So while the answer to “who did it first” is still up for debate, the 1955 Citroën DS makes the strongest case for offering everyday drivers disc brakes — tech that’s still standard nearly 70 years on.