Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout

Uncommon card · No. 95433

A front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (FR), also called Système Panhard is a powertrain layout with an engine in front and rear-wheel-drive, connected via a drive shaft. This arrangement, with the engine straddling the front axle, was the traditional automobile layout for most of the pre-1950s automotive mechanical projects. It is also used in trucks, pickups, and high-floor buses and school buses. It was pioneered by Amédée Bollée in his 1878 steam car La Mancelle and adopted in 1891 for internal-combustion-engine vehicles by Émile Levassor of Panhard et Levassor, hence the designation Système Panhard. Before pneumatic tyres were used, the final transmission was generally by chains from half-shafts on each side of the differential; this insulated the machinery from shocks from the road.

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