The 2027 Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale Proves The Stick Shift Isn’t Dead Yet, But There’s A Catch
Ferrari spent the better part of two decades helping bury the manual transmission. Now, in a plot twist worthy of Maranello, it’s selling a V12 grand tourer with three pedals and a gorgeous gated shifter. The catch is that that stick doesn’t actually operate a conventional manual gearbox.
This is, of course, the 2027 Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale, a $677,600, 819-hp reminder that wealthy enthusiasts still want to change gears themselves, even if Ferrari needs an army of electronics to make it happen.
How Ferrari Built A Manual Into A Dual-Clutch Car
The Manuale isn’t a return to a separate manual gearbox sitting behind the V12. Ferrari starts with the 12Cilindri’s existing eight-speed dual-clutch rear transaxle and adds a clutch pedal and a shift lever on top of it, letting the driver take over the gear selection that the dual-clutch unit normally handles on its own. It’s a clever workaround rather than a ground-up mechanical throwback, and it means most drivers will actually be slower through a gear change than they would be left to the computer.
That’s the whole point. Ferrari isn’t selling the Manuale as a way to shave tenths off a lap time. It’s selling it as a way to feel the car again, with a clutch pedal under your left foot and a lever to grab instead of a paddle to flick.
Why A Clutch Pedal On A Halo Car Still Means Something
Dual-clutch and automatic transmissions have taken over the performance car world because they’re faster and, in most daily-driving scenarios, easier to live with. That shift has pushed the manual to the margins almost everywhere, including inside Ferrari’s own lineup for years. A stick shift on a modern halo car is now rare enough that Porsche and Lamborghini are among the only other brands still willing to offer one at this level, and neither of them is doing it on a naturally-aspirated V12 grand tourer.
That’s what makes the 12Cilindri Manuale louder than it should be on paper. This isn’t a turbocharged four-cylinder hot hatch keeping the flame alive for budget enthusiasts. It’s Ferrari’s flagship front-engine V12, the car built to represent everything the brand still believes in mechanically, getting a transmission that exists purely to slow the driver down and hand back control.
A Niche Bet, Made By A Brand That Can Afford To Make It
Nobody is going to cross-shop the 12Cilindri Manuale against a mainstream sports car, and Ferrari isn’t pretending otherwise. This is a car for a buyer who already has the money for the standard 12Cilindri and specifically wants the version that’s harder to drive well. That’s a small audience by definition, but it’s exactly the audience Ferrari can still justify building for.
At the end of the day, there’s a lot to love about the 12Cilindri. It’s a Ferrari, has a V12, looks the business, and cut it any way you like, but it’s brutally quick. The gated manual just makes it all the more enticing, in our eyes.
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