Wonder how much that thing weighed, and how front heavy it was.

Late in 1903 John Walter Christie, an American mechanic, engineer and inventor, started designing extraordinary vehicles with the most unusual engines and transmissions. His point of view wasn’t as common as others. He aimed at designing a concept that pulled (like a train or carriage), instead of pushing (like a boat). That is how he came to front wheel drive. But he went a step further placing the engine transversely between the front wheels, just like Alec Issigonis did some 50 years later when he designed the Mini. Christie was the first serious proponent of front wheel drive cars in the US.