Longitudinal
True Classic
It’s also possible that the design for manufacture and assembly team discovered they could do the engine build process faster and cheaper. There is a lot of design for manufacture activity that conflicts with design for maintenance and servicing.
Sure. Those decisions are made all the time. It's why we have Allen and Torx screws all over cars. But can you honestly look at that chain setup and see what made it faster and therefore cheaper to assemble?