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redneck joe

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dwco5051

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I remember my step mom telling me, circa 1978, how dangerous those cars were.
Ralph Nadar wrote a book about them with a lot of false claims as after the first two years or so of production some tweaking was done to the suspension and testing showed they handled as well or better than any other production car of that period. Had a buddy who was a mechanic and local dirt track racer who had the turbo charged Spyder model which was 150 hp then. He claimed he tried all ways to get it out of shape on back roads and said that any normal driver would never get in trouble with one. The damage was already done and a good idea went by the wayside.
 

Mc Tool

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Ralph Nadar wrote a book about them with a lot of false claims as after the first two years or so of production some tweaking was done to the suspension and testing showed they handled as well or better than any other production car of that period. Had a buddy who was a mechanic and local dirt track racer who had the turbo charged Spyder model which was 150 hp then. He claimed he tried all ways to get it out of shape on back roads and said that any normal driver would never get in trouble with one. The damage was already done and a good idea went by the wayside.
Yeah , its annoying, I mean it wasnt the only car that had that swing axle , Triumph Herald and Spitfires did , and same thing about the Pinto fuel tank being right at the back ......I have owned a few cars with the fuel tank a foot from the rear bumper.🙂
 

dwco5051

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Yeah , its annoying, I mean it wasnt the only car that had that swing axle , Triumph Herald and Spitfires did , and same thing about the Pinto fuel tank being right at the back ......I have owned a few cars with the fuel tank a foot from the rear bumper.🙂
I had a Pontiac Tempest wagon back in the '60s with a transaxle, never any handling problems. The extra weight on the rears helped in the winter too.
 

redneck joe

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