Ferrari has revived one of the most emotional ideas in performance motoring: the gated manual. But with the new Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale, the return of the stick shift is not quite as simple as it first appears.
The limited-edition model has already sparked debate among enthusiasts, with some celebrating the return of a clutch pedal and exposed gear selector, while others argue that Ferrari’s new system is not a “real” manual at all. As reported by Jalopnik, the 12Cilindri Manuale uses Ferrari’s “Manuale by Wire” setup, meaning there is no traditional mechanical linkage between the gear lever, clutch pedal and transmission.
Instead, the car uses electronic inputs to recreate the feeling and behaviour of a manual gearbox, while still relying on an advanced dual-clutch transmission underneath. In simple terms, it looks and behaves like a manual, but the technology behind it is thoroughly modern.
That has made the car a lightning rod for purists. For some, a manual gearbox has to be mechanical, imperfect and directly connected. For others, the fact Ferrari has brought back the ritual of shifting gears in a flagship V12 grand tourer is something worth celebrating, even if the system has been reimagined for the modern age.
Pull quote: “The 12Cilindri Manuale may not be a traditional manual, but it is Ferrari’s clearest attempt in years to bring back the theatre of analogue driving.”
The 12Cilindri Manuale is based on Ferrari’s front-engined V12 grand tourer and keeps the same naturally aspirated 6.5-litre engine. Reports from Reuters and Car and Driver state that the car produces around 830 horsepower and will be limited to 1,499 units, with pricing expected to start at around €590,000.
That makes it extremely exclusive, but exclusivity is only part of the story. The real talking point is the way Ferrari has tried to blend nostalgia with modern performance engineering. The car has a clutch pedal, a gated shifter and a manual-style driving mode that allows the driver to select the first six gears. It can even stall if the driver gets it wrong, adding a layer of old-school consequence to what is still, beneath the surface, a high-tech system.
The Manuale by Wire system also gives Ferrari something a conventional old-school gearbox would struggle to deliver at this performance level: control. The car can protect itself from catastrophic mis-shifts, retain the speed and durability of a modern dual-clutch gearbox, and still offer the driver a more physical, involved experience.
That is why the backlash feels slightly misplaced. Ferrari was never likely to develop a completely new traditional manual gearbox for a car with this much power, especially in an era where emissions, performance targets, customer expectations and production costs all matter. The choice was probably not between a pure manual and a simulated one. It was more likely between this system and no manual-style experience at all.
In that context, the 12Cilindri Manuale becomes more interesting. It is not a museum piece, and it is not pretending that the last 20 years of transmission development did not happen. Instead, it takes the emotional appeal of Ferrari’s classic gated manuals and rebuilds it using modern electronics.
For some enthusiasts, that will never be enough. The lack of a direct mechanical connection will always make the system feel artificial. But for others, the return of the clutch pedal, the metal gate and the deliberate act of shifting will be a welcome reminder that driving pleasure is not only about lap times.
The 12Cilindri Manuale also arrives at a time when the performance car world is changing quickly. Electrification, hybrid systems and increasingly automated driving technology are becoming more common, even among the world’s most exclusive carmakers. Against that backdrop, Ferrari’s decision to create a manual-style V12 special feels less like a gimmick and more like a statement.
It says there is still demand for driver involvement. It says the ritual still matters. And, perhaps most importantly, it suggests that even in an increasingly digital age, Ferrari understands the emotional pull of a gear lever moving through a metal gate.
The Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale may not satisfy every purist, but it was never going to. What it does offer is a fascinating compromise: the drama of a traditional manual, the speed of a modern transmission and the theatre of a naturally aspirated V12.
For a brand built as much on feeling as performance, that might be more important than whether the gearbox passes the strictest purity test.