1-193-510 - National Motor Museum/Heritage Images

Rene Panhard. Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor established the present design of cars, with the engine in front. They were partners in a woodworking machinery business and were commissioned to build Daimler engines by a solicitor named Edouard Sarazin, who held the patent for France. Levassor initially experimented with the engine in the rear of the car, but later moved its position to the front. The classic design had an upright Daimler engine, a pedal-operated clutch, change-speed gear box which drove the rear axle, front radiator and a wooden ladder-chassis. The design came to be known as the Systeme Panhard, and was the forerunner of modern cars.