History 1959 Chevy rear end lift at speed?

At a memorial service for my uncle last week we got to talking about some of the cars he had owned. One in particular was a '59 Chevy and the remark was made that certain Highway Patrol /State Police would not use them as they were supposed to 'lift' in the rear at high speed due to the shape of the fins. I do remember such rumors 'back-in-the-day' but don't know if it was real or an 'urban legend'. Personally, I think 'urban legend' because even though I'm not a NASCAR fan I don't remember any stories of them flying off the track.......

 

I'm going to agree with the 'urban legend' train of thought. HRP

 

That "fact" has been kicked around and disproved for years.

 

Any fact to the rumor about them not being used as Patrol/State cars? That could have happened based on a misconception at the time.

 

When I was a kid the story was of 59 Chevys with severe rearend lift on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Must have been caused by all the potholes.

 

The shape of the fin is wrong, as opposed to an airplane wing. Even if it did lift, you are unloading the rear wheels, thus loss of traction and speed. The surface area of the fins , as opposed to the weight of the car, cancels any lift. Myth!-MIKE

 

Mine was fine till it hit about 200 mph. then the convertible top blew off.

 

Seems that some police departments used them.



and this is a photo of a North Dakota State Highway patrol car. HRP

 

What could the top speed of a 59 police car be?

 

I would say the shape of the roof would be more of a factor if the story is true not enough surface area on them fins to account for anything .

 

^^^^^^^^^^
Old timer retired ISP captain told me the 348 4 bbl Powerglide wagon stationed at our local port of entry "ran off the gun", meaning over 127 MPH.
El Caminos with a lot of power & dumb drivers got into trouble a lot ...

 

It is an urban legend, that was disproved at some point by putting one in a wind tunnel. They actually produce a small amount of downforce. they did find that a sidewind could produce lift, but the rate was the same as the front fender, so as to have no effect. this was all in the forward direction. When the car was turned around backwards, the fins started producing lift at 50 mph.

 

silly myth. everyone knows it was the 61 Dodges that lifted at high speeds.

 

Urban legend = Bullshit in redneck talk in my neck of the woods!!

 

Pretty much all cars had slight lift in the rear. This is why spoilers were invented, the lift could affect handling at speeds of 120 - 150 MPH.

59 Chev was no worse than average or not much. Best were Chrysler products, the big vertical tailfins really added stability at speed especially in cross winds.

An interesting comparison was the 61 Chrysler and 62 Chrysler. Both used the same body but the 62 was shorn of fins. Andy Granatelli said you could definitely feel a difference at high speeds, the older car being more stable.

If you notice, they started adding spoilers to fast cars not long after tail fins went out.

 

It depends on how much the driver has been drinking.

If nothing else check the speeds turned at the NASCAR races in 1959. Weren't they up around 140MPH or so at Daytona? Another way of looking at it, is to compare a 59 Chevy to a Cessna. Compare the overall weight of each and the wing area of the Cessna to the fin area of a 59 Chevy. A 59 Chevy weighs ALOT more than a Cessna, and has much smaller "wings".

From my own personal experience as a long time 59 Chevy owner, they are very stable cars.....Especially in the rear. The front end of mine starts getting a bit light at about 100mph. All the air that gets pushed out of the way tends to lift the front end just a little bit. Otherwise, it's an extremely solid and stable car.

You do have to watch out when washing a 59 at the car wash. If you don't spray the underside of the fins at an angle, you'll get a bath.

 

When stopping suddenly from high speed, they were know to lift in the rear.

 

Myth or not,

I had a 59 4 door post sedan, 6 cylinder car, that at 80 MPH there was a discernible lift, the lift was around 1", and did not affect the way the car drove. I also had a 61 4 door post sedan that at 100 MPH the top of the drivers door used to pull out, approx. a 1/4", again no affect to driving, a friends 64 4 door post car had issues with the front lifting at 110 MPH, this lift was around 2".

 

A 59 chevy won the Daytona 500 in 1960.

 

My dad could pipe in here. Pale yellow '59 convertible, white top, green interior (yep), 348 with three on the tree ... broken many a speedometer cable coming down Crossroads hill in Beckley West Virginia.. Gary Campbell, class of '64. I'm here, so I guess it couldn't lift all that much. Who knows ?

 

Sounds like a case for The Myth Busters. I'm sure they could destroy several good parts cars in the process.

 

Don't know much about lift, but I hear tell they eat bicycles.

 

Another BS myth, Kind of like the rolls and pleats of a Tijuana interior being stuffed with Horse Shit.

 

Moral of this story, don't drive over 49 MPH in reverse, it could be hazardous to your health!

 

My grandfather bought a brand new '59. He hated it on highway ramps and said it lifted in the rear as he was going fast around the ramp. I think he sold it after 1yr because of this.

 

I WONDER IF ZORAS GO TO LUNCH CHEVY WOULD HAVE ANY LIFT????

 

Doesn't the rest of the story involve JATO rockets strapped to the roof and the car taking flight into a Mesa somewhere in Arizona....

 

Let us not forget that this was the Jet age and the beginning of Interstates & Turnpikes. Many had the belief that they could fly. My Dad bought a 59 Pontiac for that very reason, seemed real to him I guess. Pontiac had two small V shaped fins and Wide Track.