A SHORT HISTORY OF SUSPENSION  

Part Three

A century later, the British wanted to go faster. For this, they wisely sacrificed luxury to reduce the weight. They were able to do this, as they were past masters in the art of forging and tempering steel. In 1804, one of them, Elliott, built the first really light, fast and safe horse-drawn vehicle: the eight-springer with two leaf springs opposed to each other on each of the four wheels. This did away with the heavy under-carriage.

Thenceforth, the bodies would be fixed to the axles by means of springs.

Suspension had come into being. The motor car could be invented.
 

Above J. B. Le Prince: a carriage

The Swallow "new vehicle well known in Poland and Russia" 1883.

Above French print 19th century

And invented it was and the vital problems of suspension were tackled. As far back as 1873, Amedee Bollee's Obeissante was sprung on four independent wheels -- double, elliptic springs in front and plain ones at the rear. A few years later, Daimler's twin cylinder had spiral springs... and so on.

The most varied types of suspension were studied, all sorts of springs were used -- and all shapes: leaf springs, spirals, torsion bars (used by Citroën as far back as 1934 on the [Traction Avant] model). Every type of material was employed: leather, steel, rubber and finally air. New solutions were being sought, as the suspension problems were becoming more and more complex with the increase in the speed of cars.