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From: Daven Anderson
Email: l96lfury@springmail.com
Remote Name: 199.174.228.155
Date: July 04, 2002
Time: 00:16:46
Indeed the kingpin/coil spring front ends could handle very well (by contemporary standards). My grandmother test-drove the new Thunderbird in late 1954 and said it was disappointing because "it looked so sporty but my '53 New Yorker handled better!" (it must be stated that her NY-er had Monroe Load-Leverer shocks and coil-overs on it!) The genius of the torsion bar setup was not just lower cost/unsprung weight,but that ALL the 1957 Chrysler products from the cheapest Plymouth on up had excellent handling (not just the 'privileged' models like the 300). Motor Trend gave the 'best handling' award to the whole Mopar line. Irony of ironies is that a 300-B would certainly leave a torsion-bar '55-56 Packard in the dust on a winding road,it was Chrysler's Torsion-Aire design that finally realized their potential (and not even with REAR torsion bars as the Packard had!)......
