Citat:
Front-engine, rear-wheel drive transaxles
Csonka transaxle from 1908.
Front-engine, rear-wheel drive vehicles tend to have the transmission up front just after the engine, but sometimes a front engine drives a rear-mounted transaxle. This is generally done for reasons of weight distribution, and is therefore common on sports cars. Another advantage is that as the driveshaft spins at engine speed it only has to endure the torque of the engine, instead of that torque multiplied by the 1st gear ratio. This design was pioneered in the 1934 Škoda Popular, and then in the 1950 Lancia Aurelia, designed by the legendary Vittorio Jano.
Since this placement of the gearbox is unsuitable for a live axle (due to excessive unsprung weight), the rear suspension is either independent, or uses a de Dion tube (notably in the Alfa Romeos). Rare exceptions to this rule were the Bugatti T46 and T50 which had a three speed gearbox on a live axle.
The Nissan GT-R is unique in that it uses a rear transaxle with an AWD layout, the transaxle in this case also contains the differential sending power back to the front wheels via a separate driveshaft.
Notable Front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout vehicles with a transaxle design include:
1898-1910 De Dion Bouton
1914–1939 Stutz Bearcat
1929–1936 Bugatti Type 46
1934–1944 Škoda Popular and Škoda Rapid
1946–1952 Škoda Tudor and Škoda 1101
1950–1958 Lancia Aurelia
1951–1956 Pegaso Z-102
1957–1970 Lancia Flaminia
1961–1963 Pontiac Tempest
1964–1968 Ferrari 275
1963-1968 Ferrari 330
1968–1973 Ferrari Daytona
1972–1987 Alfa Romeo Alfetta
1974–1987 Alfa Romeo GTV/Alfa Romeo GTV6
1976–1988 Porsche 924
1976–1991 Volvo 300 series
1977–1985 Alfa Romeo Giulietta
1978–1995 Porsche 928
1982–1995 Porsche 944 and Porsche 968
1984–1987 Alfa Romeo 90
1985–1992 Alfa Romeo 75
1989–1991 Alfa Romeo SZ
1992–2003 Ferrari 456
1996–2005 Ferrari 550/575M
1997–up Chevrolet Corvette
1997–1999 Panoz Esperante GTR-1
1997-2002 Plymouth Prowler
1998-2005 Shelby Series 1
2003-2006 Chevrolet SSR
2003–on Aston Martin DB9
2004–on Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
2004–on Maserati Quattroporte
2005–up Aston Martin V8 Vantage
2006–up Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
2008-up Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
2009–up Lexus LF-A
2010-up Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG