Additionally, General Motors began manufacturing a line as "all-wheel drive" as early as the late 1930s.
Exotic vehicles such as the high-powered Jensen FF followed by the AMC Eagle, Subaru Leone and Audi Quattro series were the first to offer all-wheel drive in a high-speed road-based car.
These, particularly the Quattro, would extensively develop this drivetrain with the use of viscous couplings and differentials to provide a safe and drivable car.
The first off-road / on-road hybrids such as the Range Rover also chose the permanent all-wheel-drive system rather than manual selection.
As this control is frequently misunderstood and misused, which can then cause damage due to wind-up, they have tended to be replaced by automatic locking through the viscous couplers.