Four-wheel drive automobile

A four-wheel drive automobile including an engine having a crankshaft extending transversely of the automobile, transmission means having an input shaft extending transversely of the automobile and adapted to be connected with said crankshaft and an output shaft extending parallelly with said input shaft, said output shaft having a driving gear provided at an end adjacent to said engine, an inter-axle differential gear mechanism including a planetary gear mechanism comprised of a ring gear, a sun gear coaxial with said ring gear and a plurality of planet pinions between said ring gear and said sun gear, said planetary gears being rotatably supported by a pinion carrier, said ring gear being integral and coplanar with a driven gear which is larger in diameter and coaxially formed with said ring gear, a first inter-wheel differential gear mechanism having an input member integral with said pinion carrier and a pair of diametrically opposed output members respectively connected with a pair of coaxial first drive shafts extending in parallel with said shafts in the transmission means, said input member of the first inter-wheel differential gear mechanism having axial extensions extending axially opposite directions, one of said extension rotatably carrying said sun gear and the other extension being encircled by an extension formed integrally with said ring gear, said pair of first drive shafts respectively passing through said extensions of the input member of said first inter-wheel differential gear mechanism, differential lock means provided between said extension of the ring gear and said other extension of the input member of the first differential gear mechanism, intermediate shaft means extending in parallel with said shafts in said transmission means, gear means between said sun gear and said intermediate shaft means to transmit driving power from the former to the latter, a propeller shaft perpendicular to said intermediate shaft means and drivingly connected with said intermediate shaft means, a second inter-wheel differential gear mechanism connected with said propeller shaft to be driven thereby.