first all wheel drive vehicle (was Carrera 4

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Fri, 14 Oct 1994, William M. York wrote:

> This was the same scheme used in the Jeep Wagoneer "Quadra-Track"
> system in the early/mid 70's, right down to the diff locking.  I think
> that this was the first full-time (i.e. dry pavement) 4WD system.

the first true full-time all wheel drive car was the 1969 british jensen
FF. this car is also the first to use anti-lock brakes, which at that time
were carried over largely from aeroplanes.  way more sophisticated than
jeep-y trucks, this car had viscous coupled differentials used very
similarly in the current AWD mitsubishis. (i.e. automatically locking
differentials). 

sad to say, the jensen was too far ahead of its time and was a complete
sales flop.  audi really deserves credit not for inventing the all wheel
drive car, but for raising the public consciousness about its advantages. 
well, at least as far as the previous decade was concerned anyway... 

we now take you back to the world of traction control and 1940 willys
jeep technology....  1/2 :)


eliot