Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Torsion Bar suspension versus Coil/Leaf suspension: 1958 Chrysler





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Didn't Allison say something along the lines that the Chrysler Torsion Aire was a half-a$$ed suspension?

I think that is Tom McCahill narrating. So much for impartial journalism ethics in the 1950's......

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You assume there were ever ethics in journalism. I imagine if we go back far enough we'd find a cave drawing full of lies and self serving platitudes. HA HA HA.

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True, do we really know for sure that Ogg killed that many bison and that they were really that big?

That is Tom McCahill, the big guy with the limp.

I have read everything he wrote for Mechanix Illustrated covering the period from the mid 40s to his death in the mid 70s and never caught him in a lie, and very few mistakes.

He could be hired but not bought. There is a difference. If you hired him to test your product he would give you a complete, accurate objective report, good or bad. Whether you chose to publish it was up to you but he would not change a word.

He was quite a Chrysler fan in the fifties and early sixties, in fact he bought a new Imperial with his own money every year from 1957 to 1965. The videos bear out what he said about Chrysler products at the time. It could be that they filmed the tests that highlighted Chrysler's best features but there was no fakery. You are seeing the different makes of cars on the same road, on the same day, at the same speed.

Incidentally if you believe Packard's torsion bar suspension was superior, and it was, then it stands to reason that Chrysler's torsion bar suspension should be second best, and still superior to the conventional coil spring suspension. The air bag suspension was full of bugs and was quickly dropped. GM was the big promoter of air bags especially on Cadillac but even they dropped it after 2 years.

I read a good many car tests over the years done by Tom McCahill. My brother I couldn't wait till the latest issue of Mechanix Illustrated came to the house.

While it is well know that Tom liked his big Chrysler Imperials, but when he tested a car no matter what brand it was, he always gave his readers an honest opinion, and wasn't afraid to say when a car was a piece of junk.

John S.

Too bad that Packard was all but gone by the time of this "test." It would have been interesting to see T/L cars follow the Mopars.

One experience he found amusing concerned a test he did of the Nash Ambassador. His report was quite positive on the whole, but contained the observation that the car "handled like the Queen Mary".

The Nash company asked for permission to reprint the article as a publicity handout for their showrooms. He gave his permission but only if they reprinted it in total, as he wrote it. Including the "Queen Mary" crack.

This they did, which amused McCahill no end. "I guess a lot of people wanted a car that handled like the Queen Mary" he laughed.

My favorite "McCahillisms" referred to the sound of the exhaust in a late 50's Oldsmobile..."like trying to force a tornado through a keyhole" or the squealing brakes on a Buick he was road testing..."stepping on the brake pedal produced the same result as burning a pig"

What was his dog's name?.....Duke?