1254 - Grandpa gets a "New" Mark II

[RL Chilton]

Tom-

Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you will find this is the best 'Go-To' place to gather the answers to all of your questions regarding your specific history, or technical aspects of your MII in general.

[Guy Hill]

This car could have a significant provenance of recognition and appreciation to anyone familiar with the Ford engineering executive staff in 1956. If the partial research details above are correct and confirmed with respect to ownership, this vehicle when new was likely in the hands of one Earl S.MacPherson, Chief Engineer of the Ford Motor Co., 1952-1958. Mr. MacPherson is credited with the innovative automotive suspension design bearing his name that has endured to the present and is commonly known today as "MacPherson strut suspension." It is the most common basic suspension design employed today as it is very compact, lightweight and efficient compared to earlier suspension configurations. The modern era of front wheel drive and smaller proportioned vehicles with innovative body types and shapes ( minivans and CUVs) would not be possible without his ground breaking engineering contributions to the integration of body, suspension and chassis.

[Guy Hill]

This car could have a significant provenance of recognition and appreciation to anyone familiar with the Ford engineering executive staff in 1956. If the partial research details above are correct and confirmed with respect to ownership, this vehicle when new was likely in the hands of one Earl S.MacPherson, Chief Engineer of the Ford Motor Co., 1952-1958. Mr. MacPherson is credited with the innovative automotive suspension design bearing his name that has endured to the present and is commonly known today as "MacPherson strut suspension." It is the most common basic suspension design employed today as it is very compact, lightweight and efficient compared to earlier suspension configurations. The modern era of front wheel drive and smaller proportioned vehicles with innovative body types and shapes ( minivans and CUVs) would not be possible without his ground breaking engineering contributions to the integration of body, suspension and chassis.

In many ways, Mac Pherson was the Charles Kettering of modern suspension innovation and design. An early US example of his engineering influence in mass market applications debuted in the 1960 Ford Falcon, and was incorporated in it's later derivatives comprising all of Ford's compact and intermediate products including the Mustang. The key novel feature was active coil spring loading of the upper front control arm that located the upper spring pocket in an extension of the combined inner fender/ forward unit body structure. The lower control arm was unsprung and served only a steering, shock absorbing and horizontal stabilizing function. This configuration provided tremendous weight, material and space savings together with significantly lowered cost of manufacture. It also allowed for the newer enhanced stylistic expressions of the late 60s and 70s featuring lower hood and front fender lines intended to make smaller and more compact vehicles attractive to the mass market. Ultra high performance racing vehicles also incorporate MacPherson's engineering and design philosophy combing coil spring and shock absorber functions with control arms of ultra lightweight alloys in fully independent suspension configurations.

[linmk2]

Mr Lambert, I just watched the video, so happy your grandson made your dream car a reality. I have to quote the poet Keats, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever, it will never pass into nothingness".