The Citroën 2CV is an economy car produced by the French company Citroën from 1948 to 1990. Introduced at the 1948 Paris Salon de l'Automobile, it has an air-cooled engine that is mounted in the front and drives the front wheels.
The Citroën DS is a front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations, across three series of one generation.
The Citroën Visa is a five-door, front-engine, front wheel drive supermini manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1978 to 1988 in gasoline and diesel variants. 1,254,390 examples were ultimately manufactured over a single generation, with a single facelift (1981). China has also assembled the car as the Liuzhou Wuling LZW 7100 minicar. Production started in 1991 and finished in 1994.
The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coupé and cabriolet configurations as well as pickup truck variants.
The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles.
The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat — in saloon, estate, and hatchback body styles.
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Brasier was a French automobile manufacturer, based in the Paris conurbation, and active between 1905 and 1930. The firm began as Richard-Brasier in 1902, and became known as Chaigneau-Brasier in 1926.
The Amilcar was a French automobile manufactured from 1921 to 1940.
The Amilcar Compound is a front wheel drive car with unitary body/chassis introduced shortly before World War II by Amilcar after their takeover by Hotchkiss. It was designed by the famous French engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire.
The Toyota Tercel is a subcompact car manufactured by Toyota from 1978 until 1999 across five generations, in five body configurations sized between the Corolla and the Starlet. Manufactured at the Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Japan, and sharing its platform with the Cynos and the Starlet, the Tercel was marketed variously as the Toyota Corolla II—sold at Toyota Japanese dealerships called Toyota Corolla Stores—and was replaced by the Platz in 1999. It was also known as the Toyota Corsa and sold at Toyopet Store locations. Starting with the second generation, the Tercel dealership network was changed to Vista Store, as its badge engineered sibling, the Corolla II, was exclusive to Corolla Store locations.
Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882–1970), Robert C. Graham (1885–1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887–1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive assets were acquired by Kaiser-Frazer in 1947. As a corporate entity, the Graham-Paige name continued until 1962.
Dante Giacosa was an Italian automobile designer and engineer responsible for a range of Italian automobile designs — and for refining the front-wheel drive layout to an industry-standard configuration. He has been called the deus ex machina of Fiat.
The Georges Irat was a French automobile manufactured by engine builder Georges Irat from 1921 to 1953.
Buchet was a French motorcycle and automobile manufacturer between 1899 and 1930.
From 1931 to 1939, Daimler-Benz AG produced three cars with rear engine as well as a few prototypes. Production numbers remained low for each of these models, especially compared with the production of conventional front-engine Mercedes-Benz cars.
The Audi Type P was a small two-door sedan/saloon car introduced by Audi in 1931. It was discontinued by 1932.
The Citroën Traction Avant is the world's first monocoque-bodied, front-wheel drive car that was mass-produced. A range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, as well as longer wheelbased "Commerciale", and three row seating "Familiale" models, were produced with four- and six-cylinder engines, by French carmaker Citroën from 1934 to 1957. With some 760,000 units built, the Traction Avants were the first front-wheel drives made in such (six-figure) quantity.
Hans Gustav Röhr was a German aviation pioneer. After the First World War international treaty obligations imposed on Germany made this impossible and he applied his talents to automobiles. In 1926 he founded his own automobile manufacturing business, but this succumbed to bankruptcy in 1931. After that he worked for Adler. Here his responsibilities included design and development of new models. One of the cars he designed and developed, launched in 1932, was the Adler Trumpf which was both technologically innovative and successful commercially. He moved, as Technical Director, to Daimler-Benz in 1935, but his career was cut short by Pneumonia to which he succumbed, according to at least one report, after a drive in an open-topped car, and as a result of which he died.
The Bucciali TAV 12 is the last model from the French car manufacturer Bucciali. Introduced in 1931, the TAV 12's history and characteristics are not fully understood. Unusual for the time, it had front-wheel drive and sensational bodywork, the flat and long limousine version of which was also known as la flèche d'or. The vehicle, of which only one is known, was dismantled into its individual parts before the outbreak of the Second World War. A collector had it rebuilt 40 years later. Since the early 1990s, the TAV 12 has been ready to drive again and is shown at exhibitions from time to time.
