Ferrari fans have been asking for a manual gearbox for years.
Maranello has finally answered. Sort of.
The new Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale brings a clutch pedal and gated shifter back to a front-engined V12 Ferrari, which sounds like the kind of sentence that should make purists immediately start checking their bank balances.
A naturally aspirated V12. Rear-wheel drive. A metal open-gate shifter. A clutch pedal in 2026.
On paper, it sounds like Ferrari has reopened the door to the good old days. The reality is more interesting.
This is not a traditional manual gearbox. The 12Cilindri Manuale still uses the same eight-speed dual-clutch transmission as the regular car. The difference is Ferrari’s new Manuale By-Wire system, which lets the driver use a clutch pedal and gated shifter to control the first six gears and reverse.
There is no old-fashioned mechanical linkage running from the shifter to the gearbox.
The feeling is analogous. The brain is electronic.
A Manual Built For The Modern Age
This is where the argument starts. Some people will call it fake. Ferrari will probably call it progress.
The clutch pedal and gearlever send electronic signals to the dual-clutch transmission, but Ferrari has engineered the system to behave like a manual.
You can select gears through the gate. You can launch badly. You can shift cleanly. You can even stall it if you get things wrong. That last part feels important.
A manual car is not only about changing gear. It is about responsibility. Smooth inputs feel good because clumsy ones feel bad. Ferrari seems to understand that, which is why the 12Cilindri Manuale is designed to reward finesse rather than simply cosplay as an old Ferrari.
The system can also switch back into full automatic mode, which is exactly what many owners will want in traffic. Seventh and eighth gears are reserved for relaxed high-speed cruising, so the manual experience is really focused on the first six gears.
It is a strange idea, yet a clever one.
The V12 Stays Untouched
The engine is still the main event. Ferrari has kept the 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 unchanged, with around 819 horsepower and a top speed of 211mph.
The 12Cilindri Manuale can still hit 62mph in about three seconds, so this is not some softened nostalgia special built only for garage queens.
It is fast in the modern Ferrari sense. It just demands more from the driver. That’s the whole appeal.
Ferrari will build only 1,499 units, with prices starting at €590,000. That makes it around 50 per cent more expensive than the regular 12Cilindri.
Expensive, limited and slightly controversial. Very Ferrari.
The purist debate is not going anywhere. A by-wire clutch and shifter will never feel quite the same as a fully mechanical manual. But the alternative was probably no manual-style Ferrari at all.
So maybe this is the compromise that makes sense now. Ferrari has not brought back the old manual gearbox. It has built a modern tribute to why people loved it in the first place.
