thinking outside the box, here, but what if you had a brake caliper on a pivot or on a quadrant (something that allows for some degree of rotation), then you have a brake disc on the axle/drive shaft....then when you pull a lever back it activates a brake, which seizes the disc and the lever (or a linkage) pushes the disc backwards. Push the lever forwards and it disengages the brake and pulls the caliper forwards ; pull it back again and the caliper re-engages (at say half past nine) and pushes the disc round (to say, ten past 12).
Do you see? It is like a mechanical way of grabbing the wheel without gears etc