Ferrari did something vaguely like this with the 348 and Mondial t. I think, though, that their first transverse transaxle was in one of their race cars, maybe the 312? I remember hearing about it at that time; I had a Mondial t and was very interested in how they packaged all that equipment.
Basically, the driveshaft ran straight back from the engine rear crank flange to the back of the unit, where it ended in the flywheel and clutch assembly. The driven plate of the clutch was bolted to a hollow tube driveshaft which was concentric to the first driveshaft- so the clutch and flywheel assembly was on the very back of the entire unit. Next, going forward, was a set of right angle gears, and then the various transmission shafts and countershafts, ending in a set of helical gears that drove the differential assembly (limited slip, as I recall) I think that was how they did it.
Shifting was by cable,and was balky when cold and much better when warm; but cable shifting is never as good as a hard linkage IMHO. Having the clutch out back and easy to replace and service was a good thing since it was the only car that I've ever owned that decided to dump all its clutch fluid on the garage floor one day after it hadn't been driven for a couple of weeks. At least it did it in the garage. To be fair, that was a problem with the hydraulics, not the clutch itself, which always worked fine.
I don't know how long they kept this arrangement. The engine, a 3.4 liter V8 in my car, was mounted longitudinally; it had been transverse in prior V8 Ferraris. The entire package was VERY compact and light- all the cases were light alloy, naturally, and because of the timing belt change every 30K requiring removal of the entire driveline, the whole unit was light and easily removed. Leaving aside how much everything cost to do a major service, it was a nice piece of design and packaging.
I find it amusing, though, that when Ferrari hot-rodders are building old 308s into 288s, they seem to go with transaxles that look remarkably like the ancient ZF that we all know and love from GT40s and deTomasos. Maybe the most underappreciated piece of equipment in 20th century mid-engine supercar design. What other gearbox/rear axle was used in Fords, Maseratis, BMWs, deTomasos and I don't know what else?