Vincent Bendix

Vincent Hugo Bendix (August 12, 1881 to March 27, 1945) was an American inventor and industrialist, born in Moline, Illinois, who was a pioneer and leader in both the automotive and aviation industries during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the eldest of three children of a Methodist clergyman who was a native of Sweden, and the family name was changed to Bendix in Moline. In 1907 he founded the Bendix Corporation of Chicago to manufacture automobiles, called Bendix Motor Buggies, but after two years and 7,000 vehicles the company failed. In 1910 he invented and patented the Bendix drive, a gear that could engage an engine at zero rotational speed.