Re: PAC meet torsion level presentation

Posted by HH56 On 2020/8/14 15:00:51

I enjoyed the video and did pick up a few new bits of knowledge. It was dry in a few spots and the camera guy seemed to not be following where the action was happening at times but still worth watching.

Now if someone could find or convince the rights holder to post a complete video copy of the 3 car comparison film they showed at the early 80s PAC meet in Berkeley and at some of the other PAC meets. A version of the video is on the Allison DVD sold by one of the regions but I wonder if it is complete. I seem to recall the original film was longer -- or at least it seemed like it was while watching at the meet. The film generated a fairly long period of laughter during and after the comparison cars went over the railroad tracks.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, the TL Packard sailed by this extremely rough railroad crossing in Detroit with the wheels bouncing like they were trying to come off but the body was barely disturbed. A hubcap flew off one of the brand X fine cars and rolled down the road while the car was bouncing up and down so much it seemed like the driver was going to lose control. The other fine car bottomed out so seriously you could see the sparks fly as the car's frame (hopefully it was the frame) hit the road or tracks and then wobbled as its driver got it under control again.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say the earlier Packards and conventional spring Clippers would probably have done no better than the test cars. The Allison DVD also shows a 54 Patrician going over the same spot (a bit slower because that car was a personal car assigned to one of the people present for the test) and it was still sad. The little cycle car probably did the best job smoothing out the ride of all of them.