The Lincolns from52 to 57 were superb handling cars for their day as were the Chrysler New Yorkers and 300 letter series.of the mid and late 50s.
The Lincolns got a lot of good press by winning the stock class in the Mexican Road races. The only Reason the Lincolns were able to enter the stock class was that every part they made for these cars , Ford issued a part number for.
The guys prepping the 1951 Chrysler Saratogas didn’t enter the stock class but the open one. They were hunting Ferraris. The Chrysler Hemis were 20+ mph faster than the Lincolns. A Chrysler Saratoga finished 3rd overall behind only 2 of the many Ferraris entered. The Chrysler was 16 minutes behind the winner in a 22 hour race, the First Lincoln was 2 hours behind.
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Yes, I think that’s the way my stock Ford truck is configured, axle on top of leaf spring, with the U’s pointing down. I’m still not clear if the “shackle” is the bicycle pedal looking gadget at the end of the leaf spring, or the gadget that clamps the middle of the leaf spring to the axle. Maybe they are both called shackles. At my Barnes and Noble the truck section has all men standing nearby, looking at the truck magazines, and the women are surrounding Cosmopolitan, beauty, and clothing style shelve. Nobody knows when these two groups get together long enough to produce more kids, but somehow it must be happening … lol … after all for Barnes and Noble to remain a viable business the male kids will have to grow up and stand by the truck section asking questions about the configuration of shackles … and on it goes …
I really liked the bogus part number, do it yourself times four. It resembles the shackles used on prisoners, galley slaves and Pawn Stars.
Our 1964 Cadillac Series 62 was great in a straight line, but awful going around turns. I went around a 90* right turn at 25 once. The left front bottomed out and the car stalled. I guess the carburetor didn’t like sitting at that angle.
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Back in 1950, 2 Cadillac 61 coupes raced at the 24 Hours of LeMans in France. Finished 10th and 11th out of over 60 cars. That is an amazing feat. Photos from the event showed quite the body lean in corners. Must have scared the smaller European cars they raced against!
The European drivers weren’t happy unless they were scared witless, just like the American drivers.
Mario Andretti says “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
I’d say that applies to “scared” 
One of the Caddys is on the far right wearing #3. Imagine seeing that in the mirror knowing it has 4 wheel drum brakes! The car in front of it is a 1933 year old Bentley - that finished 2 spots ahead of the Cadillac in 8th.
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Every car at Le Mans had 4 wheel drum brakes in 1950.
Jaguar won the 1953 race because it had gone to disc brakes for the c type in 1953 and beat the Ferraris that had a much higher top speed.
Jags 1st and 2nd, 3rd place was a Cunningham C5 with a 331 Hemi and 17 inch drum brakes, 4th was another disk brake Jag C-type
Yes, it amazed me how long Ferrari stuck with drum brakes, even the Mercedes 300 SLR Grand Prix cars had drum brakes but they did have an “air” brake I had not seen before or since. It was a large metal panel behind the driver , hinged at the rear that was deployed to slow the car from top speed to assist the brakes. The straight eights in the 300SLR had desdromonic valves. They were opened and closed by camshafts- no valve springs.
Correction ; The W196 was the Grand Prix car, the 300 SLR was based on it with the engine enlarged to 3.0 liters and widened to two seats for sports car racing,
The 300 Sl was the 6 cylinder road car with the Gull Wing doors. I had always wanted one until I found out the windows didn’t open.
Corvette competed in the 1960 LeMans race… still with 4 wheel drum brakes! 
The Corvette didn’t get 4 wheel disks until 1965.
Contrary to what I said above, I looked at my truck yesterday and the leaf spring is positioned on top of the axle.
I looked at the service data, and for this version of Ford truck the “shackle” is what is located the end of a leafspring. The part that holds the middle of the leaf spring to the axle (with the u-bolts) is called a “plate”.
