Re: Leaf springs - NAC

[Will Owen <nashwill912@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George Graves said:

"There's essentially nothing wrong wit leaf springs on independent 
suspensions at either end of the car if they are designed properly. 
Some early Ferraris used a transverse leaf spring on their front 
suspension as did a number of lesser cars. Most notably, if memory 
serves, was the Opel GT, the 'mini-Corvette' of the early 1970's."

Transverse leaves were I think the commonest springing medium in early
IRS designs - I believe the Alvis FWD cars (among others) used leaves
both top and bottom. The early Jeep 2WD civilian trucks and station
wagons had a rather crude IRS with a leaf forming the lower arms;
Studebaker used leaves acting on lower arms. I'd suggest though that the
REAL "most notable" application was the Fiat Topolino's, which had a
leaf spring at the top and A-arms below. What made it historically
important was its popularity among builders of sporting specials and
race cars - Cooper used it starting with their F3 cars up into the early
F1s, and Tojeiro's famous Bristol-powered Barchetta knockoff used it at
both ends, too. This was the design that AC bought and put into
production as the Ace, which eventually became the 289 Cobra.

Fiat, in the meantime, had rethought the layout, and starting with the
600 put the leaf spring below upper A-arms. A nice detail was that the
spring was clamped by two widely-separated supports, which made the
middle section move in such a way as to form a slight S-curve when the
car leaned in a turn, adding roll resistance as an anti-roll bar would.
It was a good, sturdy and very cheap design, working well under
generations of 600s, Nuova 500s, 850s and Simca 1000s, and all the
little Abarths too.

Will Owen
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