Originally Posted by carpediemracing:14210148
...When it was first used in automobiles (I think it was a mid 90s Corvette?)
My memory says that your memory is correct, more or less, and it debuted on the 1997 Corvette, first year of the C5 chassis.
Hydroforming is the only way left to advance metal frames. I'm pretty damn sure that drawing metal and welding alone covered all the possibilities from the early 1900s until now.