All Wheel Drive ?

[Mike Cecil]

A discussion with friends last evening who are looking for a new vehicle, spiked my curiosity about the phrase 'All Wheel Drive', or 'AWD'. It appears in the marketing and on many modern vehicles (like it was something new), but when was the term first used?

I can remember the cowl plate that came with the Marmon-Herrington conversion kit for Ford trucks in the late 1930s which had 'All Wheel Drive' on it, but was the term used in any official and/or commercial sense before that? What terminology did, say, Jeffrey and FWD use to market their vehicles back in the 1910s and 1920s?

I'm hoping the collective wisdom of MLU can come up with a reasonable answer!

Mike

[Lang]

Mike

Just spent half an hour searching hundreds of ads and pictures.

FWD obviously only ever seemed to use "four wheel drive"

Both Jeffery and Nash used "quad" and "four wheel drive" in their advertising.

The expression "all wheel drive" seemed to start arising with the experimental multi-wheel vehicles of the late war to early 50's period both military and oil field machines.

I did find a mention in a Studebaker ad about their WW2 trucks. They talked about their 6x4 trucks carrying supplies then said "Our boys in the rugged conditions of the front line love our all wheel drive 6x6 workhorse"

I think these days the AWD expression is a marketing thing to differentiate sophisticated cars and light SUV's from the public perception "four wheel drive" is a rough off-road working machine.

I found some sales discussion saying something like "our SUV is "all wheel drive" for safety in wet or icy conditions, for those requiring heavy off road capability we have our strong "four wheel drive" line of vehicles.

All marketing double-speak!

Lang

[Mike Cecil]

Thanks Lang, that is interesting.

That seems to confirm that, thus far, MH were the 'original' users of the term 'All Wheel Drive' on both their placarding on the scuttle of Fords equipped with the MH drive system, and in their handbooks and technical data. Attached is an MH technical manual which is dated January 1939, and uses the term both on the front cover and throughout the text.

This website seems to provide a reasonable differentiation between the two systems in terms of current usage, but on reading the MH manual, it seems they (ie MH) used it in a different sense: a conventional system which would cover both their 4x4 and 6x6 applications.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/w...l-wheel-drive/


Mike

[Lang]

Thanks Mike.

My comments above about Studebaker seem to indicate two bob each way with the expression "all wheel drive 6x6".

Maybe "all wheel drive" was not any type of official designation but just a simple use of the English language at the time like "flat bed" or "cab over engine" which simply accurately described a feature and was not any sort of marketing catch phrase. MH produced both 4x4 and 6x6 and the phrase covered both systems.

I think the motoring journalist in your link is trying too hard. They are all 4x4, four wheel drive or all wheel drive - what about "part time four wheel drive" and "full time four wheel drive"? The only difference is how they get the power to the wheels and there are so many combinations and system mixes. I am certain AWD and Four Wheel Drive are purely marketing terms that have come to mean generally a description for sporty cars and soft-roaders or a description for off-roaders. Any attempt to claim they are two entirely different animals is BS.

Lang

[Mike Cecil]

Yep, you are spot on I think, Lang.

Mike

[jack neville]

I wonder how many 4x4 or 6x6 vehicles produced by various countries were full time all wheel drive. Most have a transfer case to disconnect the front drive. Could this have something to do with MH AWD claim.
The later Ford Marmon Herrington gun tractors were fitted with a ‘compensator’ transfer case to eliminate windup in the driveline. A primitive centre diff.
For an Australian built vehicle to have full time AWD was quite unusual I’m thinking.

[jack neville]

I wonder how many 4x4 or 6x6 vehicles produced by various countries were full time all wheel drive. Most have a transfer case to disconnect the front drive. Could this have something to do with MH AWD claim.
The later Ford Marmon Herrington gun tractors were fitted with a ‘compensator’ transfer case to eliminate windup in the driveline. A primitive centre diff.
For an Australian built vehicle to have full time AWD was quite unusual I’m thinking.