<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Experiments with front - wheel - drive cars date to the early days of the automobile . According to various sources, 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 . It was thus arguably the world's first front - wheel - drive automobile, but it never saw mass production, with only one copy ever made . In 1898, Latil, in France, devised a front - wheel - drive system for motorising horse - drawn carts . </P> <P> In 1898 / 9 the French manufacturer Société Parisienne patented their front - wheel drive articulated vehicle concept which they manufactured as a Victoria Combination . It was variously powered by 1.75 or 2.5 horsepower (1.30 or 1.86 kW) De Dion - Bouton engine or a water cooled 3.5 horsepower (2.6 kW) Aster engine . The engine was mounted on the front axle and so was rotated by the tiller steering . The name Victoria Combination described the lightweight, two - seater trailer commonly known as a Victoria, combined with the rear axle and drive mechanism from a motor tricycle that was placed in front to achieve front wheel drive . It also known as the Eureka . </P>

When did front wheel drive cars come out