In a vehicle drive system, a pair of rear wheels is driven by first and second motors. The first motor is designed to specifications suited to delivering torque at low rotational speeds and the second motor is designed to specifications suited to delivering torque at high rotational speeds. The motor used to drive the rear wheels is selected based on the vehicle speed. The change in the operations of the first and second motors is synchronized with a shifting of a transmission disposed between an engine and a pair of front wheels. Thus, the vehicle drive system is configured and arranged to accommodate speeds ranging from low speeds to high speeds in a sufficient manner without requiring the drive source to become large.