The Last American V8 Sedan With A Manual Is Living On Borrowed Time
The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing has quietly become the last of its kind. It’s now the only new sedan sold in America that pairs a V8 engine, a manual gearbox, and rear-wheel drive, a formula that once defined cars like the E39 BMW M5 and the E90 M3 before automakers decided all-wheel drive and dual-clutch boxes were the future. Carbuzz confirmed this week that nothing else on sale matches that recipe anymore, and the Blackwing won’t hold the title much longer either.
The current CT5-V Blackwing ends production at the close of this model year, and Cadillac hasn’t said whether a successor will carry the name. That makes this less a feature story about a great car and more a countdown clock on an entire configuration of performance sedan.
The Last Of A Dying Breed
The CT5-V Blackwing’s supercharged 6.2-liter V8 makes 668 horsepower and 659 lb-ft of torque, numbers that would have seemed absurd for a four-door a decade ago. The six-speed manual, sourced from Tremec, comes standard rather than as some token enthusiast option, complete with No-Lift Shift and Active Rev-Matching to make heel-toe downshifts foolproof.
Earlier this year, Cadillac topped that with the F1 Collector Series, a limited run of just 26 cars pushing output to 685 hp and 673 lb-ft. It’s a victory lap of sorts for a car that’s already won the argument: when Cadillac refreshed the CT5-V Blackwing for 2025, it kept the manual, citing a take rate of nearly 50 percent among 2023 buyers. That’s a staggering number for a transmission most of the industry assumed nobody wanted anymore.
Why Nobody Else Builds This Car Anymore
The list of cars that used to compete with this formula has simply gone quiet. BMW moved the M5 to all-wheel drive years ago and dropped the manual entirely. Dodge killed the Challenger. Lexus discontinued the GS F. Outside the U.S., the last V8 RWD sedan is gone too, according to Carbuzz’s reporting, leaving secondhand listings as the only option for anyone chasing that layout from another brand.
Even within GM’s own lineup, electrification is reshaping what comes next. The CT5 nameplate is expected to continue with combustion power, but whether a Blackwing version returns is something only Cadillac can answer, and it isn’t talking yet.
What Disappears When It’s Gone
Losing the CT5-V Blackwing means losing the last new car where a driver can feel a supercharged V8 fire through a clutch pedal while the rear tires do all the work. That combination needs a long wheelbase, a chassis tuned for throttle-induced rotation, and an automaker willing to bet that buyers still want to do the shifting themselves. The 50 percent take rate proved that bet was right, which makes the lack of a confirmed successor sting more.
For now, the CT5-V Blackwing is both the reigning champion of the segment and the last name on the trophy. Whoever wants one with a clutch pedal should stop waiting for a rival to show up.
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