This is amazing. Our standard myth, which I believed until right now, told us that VW and other rear-engine cars had rollover-prone single joint swing axles until the ’60s when VW “invented” the parallel two joint swing axle.
Nope.
DODGE ROUTE VANS had independent rear suspension with parallel two-joint swing axles, and a differential mounted to the frame, from 1948 to 1954. The engine was in front, mounted off to the right side. No room for a front passenger but more room for the driver that way.
The IRS allowed most of the floor to be lower because the driveshaft and differential didn’t move up and down. Only the rear wheels and their hubs needed clearance, and a van already had inset boxes for the rear wheels.
I used to see these vans puttering around, delivering Wonder Bread or Snapon Tools. I had no idea they were more radical than the “innovative” VWs I was driving!
Polistra's Mill 