Cry, the beloved manual gearbox…

Although it might sound odd, it’s a sad and telling day in car history, the launch of the Ferrari 458 Italia. It’s significant, because for the first time, the marque which for years has represented the epitome of the sports car and the passion of driving, is selling their new baseline sports car with a mandatory semi-auto paddle shift gearbox — and no option for the iconic slotted metal gate manual shifter.

No gear shifter there, not even if you ask nicely.

McLaren’s new MP4-12C supercar, is also going to be paddle shift only. Is this the start of a worrying trend, which will see driving enthusiasts left out in the cold by manufacturers..?

To me, this is so counter to the very essence of a sports car, which is supposed to be all about the joy and not the chore of driving. Ferrari have come out of nowhere and stated that none of their customers are asking for manual gearboxes anymore.

While I can appreciate that the majority of high-end buyers probably do want the ease of a semi-auto gearbox, and they also make for good track work, I find that statement hard to believe. Just a short while ago in 2008, Ferrari were saying how particularly US and UK buyers were still demanding manual gearboxes (albeit a minority percentage). Even BMW had to bow to that demand with the last M5 in the US, ultimately releasing a manual version.

Anyone who has experienced the joys of nailing a perfect upshift or downshift with a slick, perfectly weighted gearbox and a sublime concert of pedal work will know that this can’t be true.

I guess this is why for many last year, cars such as the Aston Martin V12 Vantage are such a winner, with it’s old school charm in the form of a big, six litre V12 bolted straight to a manual 6 speed gearbox. No nonsense, just fantastic fun and a profound sense of connection and bonding between man and machine. The additional fine grained control available to you with clutch ‘n stick allows more of the car and the driver’s character to shine through.

These. We need more of them.

I’m worried that Ferrari and others have been slowly falling into the trap of becoming too technical about their cars, too spec-driven or lap time driven, and have forgotten about the intangible sensations that make people really connect with great driving machines, and go for a drive just for the thrill of it. Shifting gears yourself, mastering a heel-and-toe downshift and other techniques, adds so much more depth to the experience and enjoyment of driving in my opinion.

I should say that one of my cars has a paddle-shift gearbox, and it’s ideally suited in its role as my daily driver, where I use it mostly more as a tool than anything else — and it works a dream there. It also works really well when you want to push on around a track, something myself and most I’d say do rarely. But there’s always that sense of a layer of disconnection and ever so slightly less control, a bit more of a clinical feeling, and it’s almost a sigh of relief when I get into a “fun car” and palm the meaty manual gear shifter and go for a proper old drive.

For me, the manual gearbox should never die, it’s one of the last reminders of what driving for fun is all about, and if it goes, we should be very worried.