Here’s an excellent look at the state of the art in suspension design in 1939, and a nice historical survey of the subject as well. This is how Oldsmobile rolled in ’39.
In gearhead lore, the Oldsmobile brand of General Motors was considered the automaker’s technology leader—the division where engineering firsts were introduced before spreading to the rest of the corporation. There’s some truth to that notion—the Hydra-Matic automatic transmission is probably the best example.
Olds was indeed an early adopter of four-wheel coil-spring suspension at GM, using the trade name QuadriCoil Springing. To promote the feature Olds commissioned this 1939 film from Wilding Pictures, which details the history of automotive suspension starting with the Curved-Dash Olds of 1903, complete with a charming historic reenactment. Then we are treated to an in-depth examination of the Oldsmobile chassis for 1939, including a comparison of leaf versus coil springs and their relative pros and cons. While presented in non-technical terms, the info is interesting and sound. Guided by the pioneering suspension engineer Maurice Olley, GM led the industry in chassis design in those days.
Several items worth noting about the ’39 Olds chassis today: First, check out the short-long-arm (SLA) independent front suspension, in which the lever arm of the hydraulic shock absorber doubles as the upper control arm. This basic layout, which GM liked to call Knee Action, served the company in all sorts of passenger vehicles for many years.
Next, the rear suspension employs a pair of long, diagonal trailing arms fixed at the rear axle and pivoted at the front, with a Panhard bar for lateral location. This same configuration would be reintroduced by GM on the 1960 Chevrolet pickup, among other places, and is now immortalized as the familiar “truck arm” rear suspension used throughout NASCAR for decades. As they say, there’s little new under the sun, especially in the automotive world. Enjoy the video.
Where were these films shown? Movie theaters? Men’s clubs? Or only at the dealer?
I know I groused when they started showing commercials before movies. They didn’t do that when I was younger. But I also remember the newsreels that often featured new products and discoveries.
First of all Olds being the test bed for new GM innovation really is a myth.
Second, if rear coil springs were as good as they were, why then did Oldsmobile go back to leaf springs in the 1951 98 and in the 1952 88?? Then they suddenly re-appear in 1961.
All very interesting but a little misleading. And in 1939 tele shocks were in use already and were generally more efficient and lighter than the lever action.
I suspect probably why they went back to leaves in the rear.
The venerable leaf spring is still used a LOT and generally has no more rear steer than modern rear coil set ups with long and short arms at the back.
While coils generally ride better it will never be replaced to carry heavy loads.
And rubber bushing while essential for ride quality also flexes a good deal and again allows for rear [and front] steering unintended. And that rubber is an essential part of a road car, it cushioned a great deal of shock that is thrown into suspension pick up points. Hence all the eurethane bushings that are cracking suspension pickups all the time. And heim jointing is even worse. Great, in fact essential in a racecar that does very few miles but never in a road car. All factory style suspensions allow the flex in the bushings to allow far greater suspension travel than a heim jointed version, something has to give and usually the pickup points do. Far too many racecars do not factor that and are decidedly weird as the bind makes things go where they should not. You can fairly simply reengineer it to have the travel where you need it but you will never have near as much travel. And on a racecar it should all be checked thouroughly every event