When it comes to ideas and components that have withstood the plodding march of time, the leaf spring may reign supreme. It has existed for hundreds of years and served dutifully under everything from horse drawn buggies to Corvettes. The simple idea of some arched steel (or composites these days) designed to support weight and help dampen some of the ruts and bumps a vehicle may hit while traveling down the road has been advanced and refined over the years and it even makes for an effective racing suspension on drag cars now. If you don’t think leaf springs can work you obviously have been living under a rock for a while and that rock doesn’t even have cable.

In this video we get an ant’s eye view of a leaf spring car coming off the starting line and charging down the strip. This thing is no weak sister, either. This car is a tough customer and you (like us) maybe surprised by the amount of movement that the rear end has to get the car off the line and the way the thing settles down on the springs as it drives down course.

Between differences in materials, differences in spring design, differences in how the springs themselves are mounted and devices like Cal-Tracs and other aids, the lowly leaf spring is not so lowly anymore. Like a hammer that has been refined to the point of hilarity, such is the story of the leaf spring, especially when it comes to drag racing.

Press play to see just how well a leaf spring setup can work at the strip –