Locomoteur a pétrole Lepape, Translation – La Locomotion Automobile – November 1895
This design originating from Hippolyte Lepape is really one that differs from many of its time. Lepape was more interested in technical innovations than in production. this one, called the Locomoteur captured front-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering. The rear steering was performed with a special linkage The „locomoteur“ didn’t require a gearbox, as it was […]
Locomoteur a pétrole Lepape – La Locomotion Automobile – November 1895
This design originating from Hippolyte Lepape is really one that differs from many of its time. Lepape was more interested in technical innovations than in production. this one, called the Locomoteur captured front-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering. The rear steering was performed with a special linkage The „locomoteur“ didn’t require a gearbox, as it was […]
Front Wheel Drive Pre-war – a short summary – GrocerJack
Front Wheel Drive Pre-war in historical view Since the onset of mechanically driven vehicles or the „sans-chevaux“, we can observe that in most cases, the propulsive vehicle power was attached to the vehicle’s rear, as shown here left. This is a sketch of the very first Benz carriages of 1899 and pictured in the book […]
La Voiture Doré et Bouisson – La Locomotion Automobile – 13 January 1898
This front-wheel drive vehicle of 1898 has a front-end unit (French: avant-train) with the driving pinion in its middle, driven by a cardan joint. Rotating or swivelling the bogey changes driving direction and by swinging it a 180°, the vehicle drives backward, without the need for a reverse gear. The front-end unit rotates around the […]
Voiture Brûlé et avant-train Ponsard, Translation – La Locomotion Automobile – 14 July 1898
The French company Brûlé et Cie originally made front-drive tractors. After encountering many complaints, it looks that they took that front-drive unit, making it a single and universal unit. Now this could be mounted under every thinkable vehicle. This front-drive unit consisted of a rotatable frame with a three-cylinder Roser-Mazurier engine, an open transmission, but […]
Voiture Brûlé et avant-train Ponsard – La Locomotion Automobile – 14 July 1898
The French company Brûlé et Cie originally made front-drive tractors. After encountering many complaints, it looks that they took that front-drive unit, making it a single and universal unit. Now this could be mounted under every thinkable vehicle. This front-drive unit consisted of a rotatable frame with a three-cylinder Roser-Mazurier engine, an open transmission, but […]
La Voiturette „Victoria Combination“ – Cycle & Automobile – 24 June 1900
The French Société Parisienne came up in the end of 1899 with this vehicle, powered by a one-cylinder DeDion-Bouton engine. The engine, the transverse two-speed gearbox and the rigid front axle mounted on a frame that could pivot around the steering center line. She was called the „Victoria Combination“ and should have been manufactured in […]
La Voiturette „Victoria Combination“, Translation – Cycle & Automobile – 24 June 1900
The French Société Parisienne came up in the end of 1899 with this vehicle, powered by a one-cylinder DeDion-Bouton engine. The engine, the transverse two-speed gearbox and the rigid front axle mounted on a frame that could pivot around the steering center line. She was called the „Victoria Combination“ and should have been manufactured in […]
La Voiture Roulleau et Pilat – La Vie Automobile – 24 May 1902
This article was published in May 1902! Here, the well-known French technicalist-journalist and writer of several books on automobiles, Louis Baudry de Sainier describes the 1902 Roulleau & Pilat sans-chevaux with front-wheel drive. Mind You; I believe that this is one of the two first continental front-wheel driven cars. The Austrian Gräf & Stift was […]
La Voiture Roulleau et Pilat, Translation – La Vie Automobile – 24 May 1902
This article was published in May 1902! Here, the well-known French technicalist-journalist and writer of several books on automobiles, Louis Baudry de Sainier describes the 1902 Roulleau & Pilat sans-chevaux with front-wheel drive. Mind You; I believe that this is one of the two first continental front-wheel driven cars. The Austrian Gräf & Stift was […]