SAFF became a major player in the automotive revolution at the start of the 20th century and was already dominating the market for the production of brake linings and clutches on the eve of World War II. By the early s, it had built its workforce up to 2, employees. In , British entrepreneur, Herbert Frood, founded the Ferodo brand, which specialized in brake linings, an essential element for automobile braking.
He had the idea of creating these materials β which paved the way for the modern automobile β during a walk in the English countryside. While on his walk, he saw a heavily loaded cart coming towards him, and its driver used one of his shoes as a brake, sliding it between the wheel and the brake shoe. Pierre Marchal, the pioneer of electric lighting, was a lifelong supporter of motor racing.
In , his company celebrated its five millionth fog lamp, and the following year, the first Ferrari equipped with Marchal iodine headlights won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The very first manually operated windshield wiper was invented by a woman, Mary Anderson, in the United States in Another American woman, Charlotte Bridgwood, was responsible for its automation in Industrialist, motor racing enthusiast and prolific inventor, Pierre Marchal made his mark on the history of automotive lighting thanks to his eponymous group, which was bought by SAFF in A virtuoso engineer who was the inspiration behind at least patents.
In , Gabriel Ducellier founded the Ducellier brand, which initially specialized in the production of candle lanterns for horse-drawn carriages.
