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When you ask people to tell you the difference between a manual transmission and an automatic, you’ll hear a lot of myths and misinformation and not-quite-accurate facts and figures. But, it’s true that a manual transmission provides the driver a sense of control over their vehicle that’s hard to achieve with an automatic. When we’re talking about performance vehicles and supercars, feel is everything, and it’s hard to beat a stick shift.

As automatic gearboxes have become the default, we’re seeing more high-end cars switching over to automatic and plenty that never came with a manual transmission option in the first place. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from performing manual swaps and turning these performance vehicles into their dream cars, or in some cases, demanding a manual transmission option until the automaker finally caves. The cars below are all vehicles that were never meant to have manuals, and yet somehow ended up with a stickshift anyway.

1

E60 BMW M5 – North America Only

BMW drivers will typically cite maintenance costs as a major advantage when converting the M5 to a manual transmission, especially given how prone the SMG automated manual transmission was to problems. BMWs are not cheap to maintain, in general, and they don’t have one of the best warranty programs in the luxury car segment, either. So, anything you can do to chip away at those repair bills could save you thousands of dollars in the long run. But America didn’t have to go through the aftermarket to get a manual version of the E60 BMW M5, because we forced BMW to build one just for us…

Whereas the rest of the world only got a 7-speed automated manual with flappy paddles, North America demanded a six-speed manual, and BMW obliged with a limited number of America-only models with the stickshift option from 2007 to 2010. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, as the gearbox used was sourced from a BMW 545i with a different bellhousing and clutch shaft. Because it was a half-baked effort, there were compromises made, one of which being that the manual E60 M5 had no option to switch off stability control. So while BMW gave you the illusion of more control, and let you avoid the displeasure of an SMG, you were never able to be a sideways hero with the stickshift.

2

2001-2007 Aston Martin Vanquish S

The original Aston Martin Vanquish is simply a fantastic car with a sonorous V12 engine and arrestingly beautiful sheet metal. But when it launched, it was only available with a six-speed automated manual. It was, admittedly, a decent AMT in the grander scheme of things, but it had a few problems. Owners complained that the car struggled to shift into reverse at high temperatures, and there was a bit too much clutch chatter for some people’s liking. The biggest issue was that in the early 2000s, people still liked manual gearboxes.

The original gearbox was a 6-speed Tremec automated manual, employing an electrohydraulic system for shifting gears, and a source of some consternation among Vanquish drivers who loved everything about the car except the paddle shifting, which made the driving experience sort of numb and impersonal. This eventually led to Aston Martin giving owners the option to send their Vanquish S back to the factory for an Aston Martin Works manual conversion, announcing this option the same year they announced the retirement of the nameplate.

3

Ferrari 458 Speciale

Why did the Ferrari 458 Speciale need a manual transmission? The short answer is that it didn’t. This one we’re putting down strictly to personal preference, because the 458 Speciale is perfect as is. The only reason to swap the seven-speed automatic transmission out of a Ferrari 458 is because you’re a stickler for a stick shift, or maybe because you’re a mad scientist.

Ferrari Challenge coach and Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona winner Jeff Segal famously converted a Ferrari 458 Speciale to a manual last year, and the experience turned out to be a very expensive and time-consuming ordeal. Segal concluded that he would never bother with such an undertaking ever again. He admits that the manual 458 is slower than the automatic, and it’s harder to drive, too, but it was a labor of love and a personal project rather than one commissioned by a client. Segal built his one-off Speciale by reaching out to a long list of contacts you could only build through a long, decorated career on the track.

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Segal’s kept a lot of the details secret to ensure that this car remains a Modificata (his fabrication company) exclusive, but he claims every new part is Ferrari-sourced. Controversially, adding the manual transmission meant dropping the electronic limited-slip differential for a mechanical setup. Getting the car just right took a lot of testing, with the electronics being one of the trickiest aspects, demanding total reverse-engineering of the software system. Every piece of the 458 is designed to respond to every other piece, meaning that this project was considerably more complex than simply pulling one gearbox out and popping another gearbox in.

4

Alpina Z8 Roadster

The Alpina brand is all about a cushy, easy-going driving experience – softer suspension, GT-like tuning. So when it launched the Z8 Roadster, the thinking was to sacrifice a bit of automotive power for a more relaxed driving experience. To that end, Alpina put in a less powerful (but more torquey) V8 engine than the stock Z8, with power arriving lower in the rev range. Importantly, this was paired with a five-speed automatic transmission meant to suit a laidback GT experience. That didn’t sit right with people who prefer a sports car to be an active driving experience, making the manual swap a fairly common mod on this very uncommon car.

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Getting hold of the parts for the conversion is relatively easy, as the original Z8 packed the same six-speed manual transmission setup as the E39 BMW M5. Getting hold of the car is the hard part. Only 450 Alpina Z8 Roadsters made it to the US, out of a total production run of 555.

5

Porsche 911 GT3 991.1

The Porsche 911 GT3 991.1 was initially sold exclusively with a seven-speed PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplung) double-clutch gearbox, which was maligned by fans, not because of its performance – which was mega – but because it was the only gearbox. Before now, the GT3 had always given buyers a manual, at least as an option. The outcry was huge, and it didn’t take Porsche long to realize its mistake. The 2017 Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the facelifted 991.2 model, offering an optional six-speed manual transmission once more and appeasing purists. The standard GT3 RS still gets a PDK by default, as that one’s built specifically for setting lap records, but the standard GT3 now packs a manual as the default option, appealing to the demand for driver engagement.

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But while the GT3 RS was never officially sold with a manual, one exists. Rennlist forum member Rob Janev didn’t feel like waiting on Porsche. While admitting that the PDK is an “amazing transition,” he simply didn’t “like that Porsche took the manual option away from us.” Janev yanked the paddle-shift ‘box from his 991.1 GT3 RS, swapped the tachometer, and then put in a whole lot of parts from the 911 R, including the latter’s lightweight flywheel and transmission. When he had all the parts together, he hauled his GT3 RS to Florida’s BGB Motorsports for the final operation. The project took six months in total and resulted in the first and only manual-transmission 991 GT3 RS to hit the road.