What is "hill-holder"

Any device that prevents a car from rolling backward on a hill when the brake pedal is released can be called a hill holder. The earliest hill holders were used in horse-drawn carriages and early horseless carriages. They were often home-made or made by a local blacksmith. These early hill holders were little more than a heavy iron weight with a spike or other sharp end that could be quickly dropped behind a wheel when the need arose, preventing the vehicle from rolling backward.

Hill-Holder is a name for the mechanism invented by Wagner Electric and manufactured by Bendix Brake Company in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker and many other carmakers offered the device as either optional or standard equipment for many years. It is a device that holds the brake until the clutch is at the friction point, making it easier to start up hills from a stop in manual transmission automobiles. It was first introduced in 1936 as an option for the Studebaker President. By 1937 the device, called "NoRoL" by Bendix, was available on Hudson, Nash and many other cars. Another name for the mechanism is a hill hold control (HHC).