Watch (Most of) These 1958 Sedans Destroy Their Suspensions

If 1958 wasn’t the peak of automotive glitz and excess, it was damn close to it.

American automakers, emboldened by a never-ending postwar buying spree, heaped more chrome and new technology onto their models that year than ever before. Uplevel models — Lincoln, Buick and Olds, especially — were the worst offenders, somehow managing to make themselves look 1,000 pounds heavier than their tasteful ’57 predecessors.

Chrysler Corporation vehicles opted for minor updates to their radical 1957 restyle, a status quo that lasted until 1960.

However, lurking underneath some these gleaming behemoths was an Achilles heel that didn’t reveal itself until the going got rough. A lot of new weight rode atop coil springs that year, or in the case of Buick, newfangled airbag cushions.

Tom McCahill, the famed automotive journalist from Mechanix Illustrated, was a big fan of Chrysler’s front torsion bar suspension, and took deep pleasure in calling out other automakers for their weak legs.

Armed with a folksy vocabulary (about 90 percent metaphors and similes), McCahill narrated a 1958 suspension test that may or may not be a legit infomercial for Chrysler Corporation products. McCahill, who looks like he spends half of his life at a racetrack, clearly enjoys the brutal torture test, which leads to catastrophic rear suspension failure on several models.

GM and Ford executives no doubt had a few poison martinis ready for the guy after this film came out.

We apologize for the graininess of the dated clips, but the information in it gets across just fine. Speed and handling tests are in Part 1, with the suspension-snapping action in Part 2. Enjoy watching the trunk and rear doors fly open on the Caddy after both rear shock absorber mounts break loose.

[Image: JOHN LLOYD/ Flickr ( CC BY 2.0)]