Re: Evinrude vs Johnson

[David Stanton]

quote 1946Zephyr:

quote pugetsoundboater:

quote SydinNJ:

The first modern day car to have front wheel drive was the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966. A few years later front wheel drive showed up on the Cadillac Eldorado, it’s close cousin.

What about the Buick Riviera?

The Riviera was made from 1963 to 1999. It got front wheel drive in 1979, years after the Eldo and Torno.

FYI: I had a 1974 Eldorado for a couple years – these early front drives had a big V8 engine mounted north/south like rear wheel drive engines, with a chain drive to a transmission that mounted under the engine to one side and the transmission output shaft connected to a differential between the front wheels. No "Transaxel". This made for a lot of weight up front. Anti-lock brakes were non-existant, and on ice or compacted snow, barely touching the brake pedal with all that weight up front instantly locked up the front wheels, taking away your steering, making for very dangerous driving in slippery weather. With rear drive you could downshift and take your foot off the brake and steer around stuff under slippery conditions as the car slowed, but with front drive, this is not an option as using the engine in a lower gear to brake the front wheels spins the rear of the car around fast! I hated that car on slippery Minnesota days! Tornos and Riveras with front drive had the same problem.
Dave