Thanks for your replies. I recall a scene in "Bitten by the Snake" where a driver lost a rear wheel (trunion assembly, I think), causing the car to catch fire. I was under the impression (maybe from something I read here?) that it was caused by a separated U-joint which allowed the rear suspension to come apart.
Certainly uncommon and maybe it was caused by something else entirely. Just seems safer to me to have an upper control arm or link arrangement. But...maybe I'm just a "belt and suspenders" kinda guy.
Lowell