What was the first front wheel dive car on the roads?

Loading thread data ...

Was the mini about in the 90's? That's the 1890's BTW.

From wikip "sometime between 1895 and 1898 Gräf & Stift built a voiturette with a one-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine fitted in the front of the vehicle, powering the front axle."

AFAIK the mini was the first transverse engine production car, but I can't say I am an expert in trivia.

Reply to
dennis

Don't forget the Citroen Traction Avante

Reply to
John

Dave submitted this idea :

Mini.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Should that link have been

formatting link
?

(Changed "dive" to drive)

Reply to
Unbeliever

Ask the OP!

Reply to
Rod

Bond minicar (1948) pre-dated that....!

Reply to
Bob Eager

I did!

From the order of posts on my newsreader the "OP" for that link is you - unless the link came from a gmail or googlemail address (both killfiled by me to cut spam levels) and poor cutting of the 'reply' post left no clue as to its true origin.

Reply to
Unbeliever

Bob Eager presented the following explanation :

True, I can vaguely remember it. Was the engine actually mounted on the front wheel and as the wheel turned, so did the engine?

Must admit I was thinking more in terms of modern front wheel drive cars and four wheeled ones. Did the Citroen DS predate the Mini?

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

"Bob Eager" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

A contemporary of the Citroen 2cv and Panhard Dyna X, then.

But that was 14 years after the Citroen Traction Avant (1934). Even that wasn't the first - Cord in the US, Alvis in the UK, Tracta in France had all been there first. And that's ignoring the "pioneer" stuff back in the

1880s and 1890s - damn near everything had been tried at least once then.
Reply to
Adrian

Harry Bloomfield gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Yes, by four years.

Reply to
Adrian

That's right.

I know...I was just being awkward (and thinking a bit laterally).

Reply to
Bob Eager

Not even close, ive got a 1931 BSA car that's front wheel drive, and that was not the very first car sold with FWD.

formatting link

Reply to
Mark

You think wrong.

Alvis made them in 1928 - a racing model first followed by a road car. Then of course the famous Citroen Traction Avant - 1934 onwards.

Probably other earlier FWD - but those are the landmarks.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Oh no. It was something about 1902

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Does Nicolas Cugnot's steam-powered three-wheeler of 1770 count? Admittedly it was really intended as a haulage vehicle, not for passenger use, and I'd question whether they could really be called 'roads' back then :-)

formatting link
points for being "front wheel drive" rather than "front wheels drive", maybe? ;)

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules

Cugnot's steam tractor of 1769, which was also the first motorised vehicle to be involved in a traffic accident, when it ran into a wall.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

Reply to
Bob Eager

AFAIK no car has ever been fitted with front wheel dive, although some amphibians have come close.

Front wheel drive pre-dates the mini by "quite a bit".

Being spectacularly wrong is a sort of hobby for Mr B.

Reply to
Steve Firth

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.