History of 4 wheeled suspension from Wikipedia

HistoryEdit

Strap suspension 1605

An early form of suspension on ox-drawn carts had the platform swing on iron chains attached to the wheeled frame of the carriage. This system remained the basis for all suspension systems until the turn of the 19th century, although the iron chains were replaced with the use of leather straps in the 17th century. No modern automobiles use the 'strap suspension' system.
Automobiles were initially developed as self-propelled versions of horse-drawn vehicles. However, horse-drawn vehicles had been designed for relatively slow speeds, and their suspension was not well suited to the higher speeds permitted by the internal combustion engine.
The first workable spring-suspension required advanced metallurgical knowledge and skill, and only became possible with the advent of industrialisation. Obadiah Elliott registered the first patent for a spring-suspension vehicle; - each wheel had two durable steel leaf springs on each side and the body of the carriage was fixed directly to the springs attached to the axles. Within a decade, most British horse carriages were equipped with springs; wooden springs in the case of light one-horse vehicles to avoid taxation, and steel springs in larger vehicles. These were often made of low-carbon steel and usually took the form of multiple layer leaf springs.^[3]
Leaf springs have been around since the early Egyptians. Ancient military engineers used leaf springs in the form of bows to power their siege engines, with little success at first. The use of leaf springs in catapults was later refined and made to work years later. Springs were not only made of metal, a sturdy tree branch could be used as a spring, such as with a bow. Horse-drawn carriages and the Ford Model T used this system, and it is still used today in larger vehicles, especially in the rear suspension.^[4]
This was the first modern suspension system and, along with advances in the construction of roads, heralded the single greatest improvement in road transport until the advent of the automobile.^[5] The British steel springs were not well suited for use on America's rough roads of the time, so the Abbot Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire re-introduced leather strap suspension, which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of a spring suspension.

Henri Fournier on his uniquely damped and racewinning 'Mors Machine', photo taken 1902

In 1901 Mors of Paris first fitted an automobile with shock absorbers. With the advantage of a damped suspension system on his 'Mors Machine', Henri Fournier won the prestigious Paris-to-Berlin race on 20 June 1901. Fournier's superior time was 11 hrs 46 min 10 sec, while the best competitor was Léonce Girardot in a Panhard with a time of 12 hrs 15 min 40 sec.^[6]
Coil springs first appeared on a production vehicle in 1906 in the Brush Runabout made by the Brush Motor Company. Today, coil springs are used in most cars.
In 1920, Leyland Motors used torsion bars in a suspension system.
In 1922, independent front suspension was pioneered on the Lancia Lambda and became more common in mass market cars from 1932.^[7] Today most cars have independent suspension on all four wheels.
In 2002, a new passive suspension component was invented by Malcolm C. Smith, the inerter. This has the ability to increase the effective inertia of a wheel suspension using a geared flywheel, but without adding significant mass. It was initially employed in Formula 1 in secrecy but has since spread to other motorsport.

end partial quote from:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_%28vehicle%29#Difference_between_rear_suspension_and_front_suspension
"under the subheading 'history'".