I Googled it. I knew there was more of a difference than just wet/dry
driving ability.
....Most AWD setups are full time systems for year-round driving, and use a viscous fluid coupling center differential instead of a transfer case to route drive torque to all four wheels.
Interesting .. and to make things even more confusing, the Eagle of course, uses a viscous fluid coupling center differential (except '86 models). That differential happens to be in a transfer case instead of integral to a transaxle. So, particularly in the case of the early Eagles with full-time 4WD, there would seem to be no functional difference between that setup and what today is called "true" AWD. The physical location of the center differential would be the only issue.
-- Roger Blake rogblake@xxxxxxxxx