Bendix Corporation

Bendix Corporation, former American corporation founded in 1924 to manufacture automobile brake systems. In 1983 it became a subsidiary of Allied Corporation (see AlliedSignal), which merged with Honeywell in 1999. For much of the 20th century, Bendix was a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive components, house-building materials, and other equipment.

The company’s founder, Vincent Bendix, himself an inventor, joined with French inventor Henri Perrot to manufacture brake systems in South Bend, Ind., in 1924; by 1928 the Bendix Corporation was producing 3,600,000 brakes per year, chiefly for the General Motors Corporation. In 1928 Bendix Corporation acquired control of Eclipse Machine Company, in Elmira, N.Y., which had been producing Vincent Bendix’s automotive starter since 1914. In 1929 the company turned to aviation products and changed its name to Bendix Aviation Corporation (not reverting to the name Bendix Corporation until 1960). From 1928 to 1948 General Motors was a major stockholder, but in the latter year General Motors disposed of all its remaining shares. In 1982 Bendix attempted a hostile takeover of the Martin Marietta Corporation, which Martin Marietta blocked; the failure led to Bendix’s acquisition by Allied.