Automobile Layout - History and Current Use

History and Current Use

The first FR car was an 1895 Panhard model, so this layout was known as the "Système Panhard" in the early years. Most American cars used the FR layout until the mid-1980s. The Oil crisis of the 1970s and the success of small FF cars like the Mini, Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Tercel, and Honda Civic led to the widespread adoption of that layout.

After the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 and the 1979 fuel crises, a majority of American FR vehicles (station wagons, luxury sedans) were phased out for the FF layout — this trend would spawn the SUV/van conversion market. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most American companies set as a priority the eventual removal of rear-wheel drive from their mainstream and luxury lineup. Chrysler went 100% FF by 1990 and GM's American production went entirely FF by 1997 except the Firebird, Corvette and Camaro. Ford's full-size cars (the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car) have always been FR, as was the Ford Mustang and Lincoln LS. In 2008 Hyundai introduced its own rear-wheel-drive car, the Hyundai Genesis.

In Australia, FR cars have remained popular throughout this period, with the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon having consistently strong sales. In Europe, front-wheel drive was popularized by small cars like the Mini, Renault 5 and Volkswagen Golf and adopted for virtually all mainstream cars.

Upscale marques like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Jaguar remained mostly independent of this trend, and retained a lineup mostly or entirely made up of FR cars. Japanese mainstream marques such as Toyota and Nissan became mostly or entirely FF early on, while reserving for their latterly-conceived luxury divisions (Lexus and Infiniti, respectively) a mostly FR lineup. While many automakers lost sight of the true sports car, Mazda introduced the highly successful Miata roadster in 1990, a true 2-seater sports car using the traditional FR layout which led to other compaines such as General Motors to produce a FR sports car based on their Kappa platform.

Currently most cars are FF, including virtually all front-engined economy cars, though FR cars are making a return as an alternative to large sport-utility vehicles. In North America, GM returned to production of the FR luxury car with the 2003 Cadillac CTS, and with the removal of the DTS, Cadillac will be entirely FR (with four-wheel drive available as an option on several models) by 2010, and the 2010 Camaro returns as a FR sports car. Chrysler returned its full-size cars to this layout with the Chrysler 300 and related models. Despite Ford's 2011 discontinuation of the rear-wheel drive Panther Platform cars, they are seeking to develop a new FR replacement. Nissan is also bringing back the Silvia to their line-up, Mazda is said to be releasing a new rotary-powered FR car in their RX line-up by 2010 and Toyota has announced the FT-86, an affordable RWD car which is the successor to the AE86. Hyundai introduced their affordable RWD car being the 2009 Hyundai Genesis and 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe

In the 21st century, with solutions to the engineering complexities of 4WD being widely understood, and consumer demand for increasing performance in production cars, front-engined 4WD layouts are rapidly becoming more common, and most major manufacturers now offer 4WD options on at least some models. Manufacturers with a notable expertise and history in producing 4WD performance cars are Audi and Subaru.