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AI generated summary, newsroom reviewed
The newly launched 12Cilindri Manuale is a limited special version of Ferrari's V12 grand tourer, and its whole reason for existing is a gear lever. You can actually move this with your hand, connected to a clutch pedal that you actually press with your foot. That might sound normal, but this is news because this hasn't happened on a new Ferrari in a long time.
You should know that this isn't a return to the old ways. It's a new system Ferrari calls "Manuale by-wire," and it's a genuinely clever piece of engineering hiding under a very familiar-looking gear knob.
Sort of, and that's the interesting part. Underneath, the 12Cilindri Manuale still uses Ferrari's 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox, the same type found in the standard car. But Ferrari has bolted a new mechanical-electronic system on top of it that lets the driver shift gears and work a clutch pedal the old-fashioned way, while sensors translate those movements into signals that the gearbox understands.
In other words, you get the feel of a manual, including the resistance, the click of the gear, and more, but the smoothness of a modern automatic transmission remains. You can also switch to full automatic mode whenever you want, so it works as both.
Ferrari didn't build this alone, either. Some of this technology comes from the same team behind Ferrari's Hypersail sailing project, which developed a similar by-wire control system for boats.
Despite all that mechanical complexity, the whole assembly weighs under 3.5 kg and is machined from solid blocks of metal. You get six forward gears plus reverse in manual mode, and the shift pattern follows Ferrari's classic gate layout, with reverse tucked up in the top left corner, just like the manual Ferraris of decades past.
Step inside, and the whole center console has been redesigned around this new shifter. The gear knob is a round aluminum with backlit markings showing which gear you're in and whether you're in manual or automatic mode. The shift gate, on the other hand, has been reworked too, with a decorative aluminium piece shaped like a tuning fork sitting around the control buttons and key slot. The pedals, gear lever, and steering wheel are arranged in a triangle, positioned for a proper driving posture rather than a relaxed cruising one.
Strip away the gearbox story and the 12Cilindri Manuale is still, at its heart, a Ferrari V12 and a properly special one. The 6.5-litre naturally aspirated engine produces 830 hp and spins all the way to 9,500 rpm, with no turbochargers. That means power builds in a straight, predictable line as the revs climb, rather than arriving in a sudden shove. Ferrari says this engine character is exactly why a manual-feeling gearbox makes sense here, as you get more time and more reason to work through the gears yourself, chasing that high-rev powerband. Performance numbers back up the claim as the car can reach 0 to 100 km/h in about 3.0 seconds, and has a top speed over 340 km/h.
Visually, the 12Cilindri Manuale keeps the same silhouette as the standard 12Cilindri. This design is inspired by Ferrari's front-engined V12 grand tourers from the 1950s and 60s. Think long hood, low roofline, and a shape built for covering long distances in comfort at high speed. Signature touches carry along when you see the bonnet that opens in reverse to reveal the engine, active aerodynamic elements built into the body, and the twin double exhaust tailpipes that have marked Ferrari's V12 cars for years.
Yet, this is not a car you can order off the shelf. Ferrari is building just 1,499 units of the 12Cilindri Manuale, and each one can be personalised through Ferrari's Tailor Made program, which is the brand's in-house bespoke customisation service.
Manual gearboxes have been fading out of supercars for over a decade, mostly because dual-clutch automatics are faster and easier to live with. Ferrari's answer here isn't to bring back the old manual gearbox; it's to keep the modern gearbox underneath and rebuild the 'feeling' of a manual on top of it. Whether that counts as a "real" manual is a debate that car enthusiasts will keep having for years. But for the 1,499 people who get one of the 12Cilindri Manuale, every gear change would be in their hands, just as a V12 Ferrari promises.