Spinning to Oblivion!

Asteering wheel spinner, that’s what we called it, although suicide knob was the common slang expression. In America, alongside suicide knob, they are widely known as Brodie knob or Necker knob, while less common names are granny knob and hillbilly knob. So why suicide knob?

The answer to that is that many accidents and deaths have been blamed on the spinner; so many that they are illegal in many American states. Drivers can lose control when the steering wheel reacts violently to a rough surface jerking their hand from the knob or their clothing gets caught up. Wrists and arms were often broken while sometimes the pin sheared off. Whatever the cause, the end result was a bad accident. Direct contact of knob with abdomen was a killer, frequently resulting in a ruptured spleen; the spleen is tucked up behind the lower left ribcage. Often the victim would show no sign of an obvious injury, go home, fall asleep and not wake up, as the rupture permits large amounts of blood to leak into the abdominal cavity, resulting in shock and death.

The most famous injury blamed on a suicide knob occurred when Sammy Davis Jnr. lost an eye. This appears to be an urban myth as most sources blame the protruding conical steering wheel centre of his brand new black 1954 Cadillac.

Taking a fork on Route 66 late at night, he drove straight into a vehicle backing up towards him – the older female driver had taken the wrong road! His car caromed off hers and across the road into a tree, resulting in serious injuries including his eye being forced from its socket.

The suicidal spinner became a Brodie knob by association. Steve Brodie (1861- 1901) claimed to have leaped off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886. The bridge was a sure thing for those unfortunates wanting to end it all, so to survive was remarkable.

The resulting publicity from his dubious stunt boosted his career as an actor and saloon owner, with fame persisting even after his death. Slang terms, “taking a Brodie” and “Brodie” entered the lexicon for “taking a chance” and “suicidal leap”.

Necker knob refers to the rather unsafe, but completely understandable practice, of a young Lothario, driving with one arm around his girlfriend’s neck, while steering with his knob.

I have not been able to find out who invented the spinner, but they were certainly around in the 1920s. My guess is they originated as an aid to steering trucks, maybe invented by a truckie.

Primitive, heavy steering required a low ratio so the spinner would be handy if lock to lock was about ten turns. They still are popular with truck drivers for low speed manoeuvering while they are also widely used in boats, forklifts, mowers and disabled persons’ vehicles.

Prolific gadget inventor, John Sinko, took out ten patents for different styles between 1938 and 1955. One in 1939 to Sinko MFG & Tool Co. was for a “steering wheel turning device” that clamped on the spokes of the sprung (“banjo”) steering wheel. Winfield Jones received a patent in 1932 for a fold-down handle about 130mm long. A number of patents for “lay flat” knobs were registered, including one to the popular Santay brand, in 1951. Press a small pin and the knob could be lowered inside the wheel rim when not required.

For many Americans, January 17th 1920 was a black day indeed – prohibition started and was not repealed until December 5th 1933. Prohibition saw the rise of moonshine runners, also called revenue or rum runners. Those who chased them were revenuers, treasury agents, or G-men (Government men).

Moonshiners (from their habit of working by moonlight), were an inventive lot when it came to the chase. Tail lights and brake lights could be switched off independently, usually on a dangerous corner, rear facing spotlights could be suddenly switched on, and fake number plates were used, while some runners obtained the complete package – sirens, lights and uniforms.

The cops shot out tyres and came up with a hook on an arm, which could be dropped onto the shiner’s rear bumper, soon counteracted by wiring the bumper on with coat hangers!

The advent of two-way radio helped level the playing field. One of their best tricks, though, was the “bootleg turn” also known as the Pittsburgh Brodie and this is where the Brodie knob came into play.

This is the manoeuvre of disappearing over a hill, with the law on your tail, flip the car around through 180° in the same lane and pop back over the hill while the fuzz flashed by, sirens wailing.

The method was to set up a front brake to grab, hammer the brakes while flooring the accelerator and spinning the wheel rapidly. A variation is to jam it into second and spin the wheel in the direction of the opposite lane, entering a controlled 180° skid into this lane.

A refinement called the Scandinavian Flick – a flick of the steering wheel the wrong way before turning the right way – increases load transfer to the outer wheels. I was under the impression that this game was played only during Prohibition but in fact it was in full swing right on through the ’50s and ’60s, even into the ’80s.

Distilling is not illegal, but the minefield of expensive Federal regulations means avoiding liquor tax by moonshining is lucrative and still goes on, although I imagine the hooch is moved in a more sophisticated way now.

Popular lore has it the bootlegger’s turn was invented by famous NASCAR racer, Junior Johnson. He was one of the more accomplished revenue runners, many of whom turned to NASCAR racing when it kicked off in 1948. Some sources claim that NASCAR racing originated from “off-duty” moonshine drivers racing each other to show off their prowess.

Johnson was born in 1931 and started his racing career in 1955, hard to believe that no one else had perfected the bootleg turn before the ’50s. Did it arise from a bad case of oversteer!

The moonshiner’s turn (or J-turn) is a different animal from the bootlegger’s turn and comes into play at a road block.

Hit the suckers coming to a complete stop, immediately reverse straight back, counting off five seconds then do several things simultaneously. While still moving in reverse spin that Brodie knob hard left, while hauling on the handbrake, no accelerator. The car will spin 90° to 180°, now release the handbrake, jam her into second or Drive and boot it. Slower than a bootleg turn, but easier to master, according to the experts.

The most popular moonshiner car in the ’40s was the 1939-40 Ford business coupe, as it had no back seat, so a huge boot. Usually a bored and stroked supercharged Cadillac V8 was stuffed in, while springs were up-rated to take a 1,000lb load. An ex-bootlegger named Willie Call has twenty 1940 Fords among his collection of modified cars used in the “business”.

Others include a ’66 Dodge Coronet with 426 Hemi (the Chrysler Hemi was the car of choice after 1957) and a ’61 Chrysler New Yorker which has clocked 300,000 moonshining miles! Police used the same cars, though unmodified. The 1950s saw the full flowering of hotrodders and a favourite game was Brodie knob 180°s, known as “lay a Brodie” or “slob the knob”!

Want one for nostalgic reasons? There is any amount of new cheap knobs on eBay, most with clear insert showing an old car logo or a pretty girl. Collectors go for the 1950s and 1960s models with marbled effect such as the Sinko knob pictured here or sporting a risqué picture of the likes of Marilyn Monroe. $150 to $300 is not unusual. One NOS aubergine coloured Santay knob sold for US$620 in July 2011. Better dig through your old junk again!