Photo Credits: Ferrari

Last month, Ferrari pulled the sheet off its first-ever all-electric vehicle, the Luce. The mere concept of an electric Ferrari was already as pointless as alcohol-free beer, but the car nobody asked for somehow became even worse in execution. With the unlimited design potential that comes from removing the packaging restraints of internal combustion, the firm most easily associated with seductive Italian exotica delivered… a less-charismatic take on the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. The $645,000 plug-in slap to the face of Enzo’s legacy was so bad that the company’s stock plummeted 8%, losing $4B in value, the day following its debut. The usually bulletproof Prancing Horse was suddenly in desperate need of a win.

Meanwhile, on Bring a Trailer, a 15,000-mile 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider, a car that regularly changes hands for around $150,000, hammered with a staggeringly high bid of $485,000. This wasn’t an outlier result, either. For years, the F430 and a handful of other Ferrari models have necessitated two distinct graphs to truly represent their modern appreciation progression. Hagerty values a #3 “Good” Condition F430 at $158,000 and a #1 “Concours” Condition example at $255,000. No matter which condition one happens upon, they can expect to pay a 100% premium if it has one option box checked: the gated six-speed manual transmission.

Well, the powers that be over at Ferrari have finally taken notice – or finally decided to act on the fact – that collectors are literally falling over themselves to get their hands on the most recent (ie. the most powerful ones with the least maintenance nightmares) three-pedal offerings from Maranello, and will be offering their front-engine V12 grand tourer with a stick shift* for the first time since the 599 GTB went out of production more than a decade and a half ago.

The reason for the asterisk above is that the manual transmission to be featured in the “12Cilindri Manuale” isn’t actually a manual at all. Yes, it’ll have the classic gated shifter and a clutch pedal, but, in reality, they’re more of a simulation as they offer no physical connection to the powertrain. Instead, the shifter gives drivers access to the first six gears of the existing car’s eight-speed dual clutch automatic. Through clever programming, Ferrari “chased the tactility” of the 599’s old shift action. It’s both possible to stall the 12Cilindri, and to put it in “D” and cruise around letting it shift itself.

Critics might lampoon this “Manuale by Wire” tech as a gimmick and a glorified video game controller, but when viewed through “half full” glasses, it also offers the incredible opportunity to row gears in an 819 horsepower, naturally aspirated, 9,500 rpm V12 Ferrari. Who cares if there’s a bit of software between you and all of that goodness; are you going to turn down Sydney Sweeney just because she mentions a condom?

Are You Listening, GM?

During the first drive of his eventual car of the year, the 2009 Corvette ZR1, noted American car skeptic and then-host of a little show called Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson yelled (as he tends to do) “Are you listening, Ferrari?” at the camera after rattling off the Blue Devil’s spec sheet, including its Ferrari halo-levels of power and mandatory three pedals. This special run of 12Cilindris is Ferrari finally returning fire. If the phrase “by wire” has been ringing a bell in your head as you read this, it’s because GM patented and has been sitting on a very similar artificial shifting system since 2018 that makes us do the Sophie Cunningham meme and say “you already solved that problem,” every time a GM engineer says a stick won’t work in the C8 Corvette.

If The General has been waiting because the 2018 patent didn’t pan out, it might be that time once again. Time to purchase and dissect a Ferrari in order to recreate and hopefully one-up their Italian recipes. As the selling price gaps between automatic and manual specimens of the final Corvettes with both options continue to grow to Ferrari-esque levels, there’s obvious pent-up demand for shift-it-yourself Corvettes, and manual fans are still lying in wait for a more playful C8. After so much time away, they’ll welcome it with open arms, even if it has a whiff of the artificial about it!

Source:
Ferrari

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