Why do cars in movies from the 60’s and 70’s seem so bouncy? The suspension seems really loose, was there a reason for this?

Question

Edit: Wow thanks for all of the great responses, I was watching Goodfellas and was looking at the cars bouncing all over the place and thinking why was that. I’d love to drive in one to experience it someday.

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Answer 1

American cars at the time really did have extremely soft, long travel suspension. Body on frame construction, large engines, and extensive use of steel (especially body panels) brought the average weight of midsize sedans to well over 3500 pounds. They were also much larger and suspension technology wasn’t really a top priority unlike today, where manufacturers spend millions trying to make SUVs handle like compacts without flipping over to compensate for their top-heavy design. If you wanted an American sports car (pony cars I guess) during the 60s and 70s you would get a bigger motor, shorter gearing, and “heavy duty” suspension to stiffen things up all while still handling like shit because of the lack of tire technology. This is mostly where the term “boat” used to describe cars came from