--- title: Klaus Arning · HICONIUM description: Klaus Arning in the HICONIUM register — one file carrying their credit. canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/klaus-arning image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/klaus-arning.png --- > HICONIUM · Index: https://hiconium.dev/llms.txt · Every page: append `.md` or send `Accept: text/markdown`. > Path: [Home](https://hiconium.dev/) › [People](https://hiconium.dev/people) › Klaus Arning > On this page: [Four-link independent rear](#four-link-independent-rear) · [Geometry recalculation](#geometry-recalculation) · [Upper-arm drop](#upper-arm-drop) · [One file carries this name](#one-file-carries-this-name) People # Klaus Arning Ford Motor Company suspension engineer behind the Cobra 427 four-link rear suspension | Label | Value | | --- | --- | | Born | Bremen, Germany, 1921 | | Died | 2000 | The record German-born Ford engineer whose four-link independent rear suspension appeared on the Mustang I and was later adapted for the Ford GT40 and Cobra 427. Arning was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1921 and apprenticed at Borgward in 1939. Racecar Engineering reports that he trained as a Luftwaffe fighter pilot, earned a mechanical-engineering degree in Bremen in 1949, then spent a year at Ford in Detroit on a professional exchange. He returned to Borgward in 1951, emigrated in 1954, and became a supervisor in Ford’s Advanced Suspension and Chassis group. According to Racecar Engineering, Arning developed a four-link independent rear suspension in 1958. Its inclined lower-pivot axis generated a built-in steer effect; the article says the geometry allowed roll understeer and anti-squat/anti-dive to coexist. MotorTrend reports its use on the 1962 Mustang I, then in an early-1963 Falcon mule and three Mustang prototypes. The planned Mustang option was cancelled after testing, with the accounts citing high investment, cost, and weight. In 1963 Racecar Engineering says he redesigned the Lola GT’s suspension for the Ford GT40 on Carrig’s PG1493 program, adding anti-dive and anti-lift in front and anti-squat and anti-lift in the rear. The IRS Mustang’s seven-eighths-inch upper-pivot drop went onto the Shelby GT350. Racecar Engineering links the four-link layout to the Mustang I, Ford GT40, and Cobra 427. After Ken Miles wrecked a prototype 427 Cobra at Sebring in 1964, Arning recommended replacing AC’s leaf springs with a heavier Mustang I-type independent. A 1993 interview says the Cobra rear used the Mustang IRS principle, but Bob Negsted executed the final form; when pivot locations changed, Arning recomputed the geometry to preserve its intended result. Car and Driver’s November 1965 road test calls the Cobra’s all-independent suspension traceable to Arning. Ford left racing in 1970. From 1971 he managed safety and structural engineering. He designed a 1971–72 presidential Lincoln on F-350 truck suspension that Racecar Engineering says kept stock ride frequencies at more than 6,000 lb, and co-authored SAE paper 730074 on the Ford Experimental Safety Vehicle. He retired in 1986 and died in February 2000. ### Four-link independent rear Racecar Engineering describes the lower pivot axis as inclined forward and upward, producing a built-in steering effect. The article says the geometry allowed roll understeer and anti-squat/anti-dive to coexist; MotorTrend records early-1960s patents for Arning’s multi-link system. ### Geometry recalculation Arning’s quoted 1993 account, reproduced by Racecar Engineering, says that Bob Negsted called changed Cobra pivot locations to Ford, where Arning entered them into a computer to recreate the original geometrical intent. ### Upper-arm drop On the IRS Mustang he dropped the upper-arm inner pivot about seven-eighths of an inch and moved the lower pivot slightly outboard, raising the roll centre. That front geometry went onto the Shelby GT350. The stations 1. 1949–1950 Borgward Mechanical engineer 2. 1950–1951 Ford Motor Company Professional-exchange engineer 3. 1951–1954 Borgward Mechanical engineer 4. 1954–1971 Ford Motor Company Advanced Suspension and Chassis supervisor 5. 1971–1986 Ford Motor Company Manager of safety and structural engineering projects The house [![Shelby](https://hiconium.dev/_derived/images/marques/full/shelby.png.w256.q75.webp)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/shelby) Credited through Ford Motor Company. In the register ## One file carries this name - [Shelby Cobra 427 Independent-suspension engineer · Ford Motor Company He supplied the four-link IRS principle from the Mustang programme. After Sebring 1964 he recommended replacing AC’s leaf springs; Bob Negsted built the hardware, and Arning recomputed geometry on Ford’s computer whenever a pivot moved. 1965–1967 €1.4M 1965–1967 €1.4M Rating 93.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/shelby/cobra-427) The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) holds everyone the register credits. In their words > “In the "four-link IRS," the steer action is built-in.” Klaus Arning · Mustang Monthly, September 1983; reproduced in Racecar Engineering, October 2008 Sources - [mustangirs.com](https://mustangirs.com/pdf_articles/mustang_monthly_1983-09.pdf) - [caranddriver.com](https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15141361/1965-shelby-cobra-427-road-test/) - [mustangirs.com](https://mustangirs.com/pdf_articles/racecar_engineering_2008-10.pdf) - [mustangirs.com](https://mustangirs.com/pdf_articles/racecar_engineering_2007-10.pdf) - [motortrend.com](https://www.motortrend.com/features/the-history-of-the-ford-mustang-independent-rear-suspension) - [saemobilus.sae.org](https://saemobilus.sae.org/papers/ford-esv-energy-management-system-730074) - [richardnisley.com](https://www.richardnisley.com/post/review-ac-cobra-the-truth-behind-the-anglo-american-legend) - [hemmings.com](https://www.hemmings.com/stories/the-first-deadly-strike/) - [mustangirs.com](https://mustangirs.com/blog/index.php/2024/11/03/its-all-about-the-people/) - [ateupwithmotor.com](https://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/compact-economy-cars/cardinal-taunus-12m-p4-and-p6/2/) - [dazecars.com](https://dazecars.com/dazed/drop.html) - [drivingline.com](https://www.drivingline.com/articles/the-65-mustang-gt350r-finally-gets-irs-it-only-took-50-years/)