Most front wheel drive vehicles with transverse engines seem to have the front of the engine pointing toward the passenger side, and the rear of the engine & transmission to the driver’s side. Why not the other way around? Is there some inherent advantage, or was the decision just made at random by the first manufacturer to offer transverse oriented engine, and the other manufacturers followed?
Honda was that way for many years, as I recall
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Longitudinally mounted engine / transmissions traditionally rotate clockwise as viewed from the front. Mount that same engine transversely with its front on the passenger side of the vehicle and it’ll drive the car forward. Mount it the other way and it’ll go backwards. You could reverse the engine’s rotation to resolve that, but why bother if you don’t have to?
Mitsubishi Eclipse and Colt powertrains are “backwards”.
With the brake master cylinder on the right side, the Colt image appears to be reversed, but it isn’t.
Seems those cars were engineered primarily for right hand drive, there isn’t enough space on the left side for the master cylinder.
There is a shaft under the dash linking the brake pedal from left to right side for the booster/master cylinder.
The driver’s position in the vehicle might explain why one orientation is preferred over the other.
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Original mini was also ‘backwards’, note the radiator location:
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Just to add a little, how hard would it be to get to the master and booster on a V engine that was on the drivers side vs the passenger side?..
I am more wondering why Honda B series engines had the intake on the firewall side with all the under hood temps and the exhaust on the rad side having the fan blow the rad and exhaust heat toward the intake vs the K series having the intake on the rad side with much cooler air and the exhaust on the firewall side pushing more heat under the vehicle away from the engine…
I am sure it is emissions related though… And yes I know most of the 4cly engines have the exhaust on the rad side, just sounds stupid for a hot rodder…
But back to the point of the topic, you have more room for the brake master, booster, abs, brake line routing and clutch master (if equipped) if the engine is further away…
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But who can every forget the lovely 1980’s Saab 900(?) with the engine siting 180 degrees, meaning the front of the engine was up against the firewall, and the transmission was on the rad side… and speaking of the gearbox, it was the freaking oil pan of the engine… and lets not forget the wiring issues… And yes the belts were a joy to do… NOT!!!
Jump ahead to the 3:40 mark…
Ahh, fond memoriesnof my 85 Saab 900 Turbo. In addition to the oddities you mention, there was no wiper “linkage.” The wiper motor was connected to a bell crank which ran a cable and pulleys to operate the wiper arms.
I still remember the 1st time trying to find the key cylinder in order to start the car, I mean why would you ever need to look in the center console between the seats to find where to start the car, it not like it is missing the steering column or dash … Now lets talk about getting the stuck key back out… oh yeah, put the car in reverse… fun times…
That car defines why the owners manual is useful to read before driving it…
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But the clutch was easy to replace. It could be done without seperating the engine and trans.
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Our fwd colt had the brake booster on pass side as well as trans. I assume it was a Japan market car at first. Battery on pass side too.
I’m guessing you are correct for the most important factor. Another possible consideration , if the crankshaft rotation was CCW, that might tend to unbolt the crank pulley bolt as the engine ran. Would be a very unfortunate event for the driver. The crank bolt could be a reverse thread type to help address that problem .
If the driver sits on the left, then having the transmission on that side gives more crush room in an accident.
So screw Grandpa in a wreck, he lived a long life already right?? 
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More nonsence from the Snowman!
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What point are you trying to make?
Per your post, less crush room for passenger.
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I replaced clutch in my colt too. Not a hard job. No subframe to remove first. But, my vw rabbit also did not have a subframe in the way and trans was on driver side. Maybe mitsu and vw shared design secrets.
I may not be understanding yourpoint, but my own late 70’s VW Rabbit’s trans was also on the left (driver for USA) side, w/the engine on the right. That’s the normal orientation for most FWD cars, like my Corolla. @Nevada_545 's point above is that at least on some Mitsu’s , they don’t use the normal orientation. They put the engine on the left side (e.g. photo, post 3 above). 83 Rabbit engine compartment photo below.
If the vehicle goes and stops I don’t care which way any part of the engine faces .
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