The Last Manual V12 Lamborghini Just Went Up for Auction, as Ferrari Brings the Stick Shift Back

Two headlines, one story

In the span of a few weeks in August 2026, the manual transmission became the subject of two seemingly contradictory headlines that are actually telling the same story. RM Sotheby's is auctioning what specialists call the last manual-gearbox V12 Lamborghini ever built, offered at its Monterey sale over the August 24 to 26 weekend: a 2010 Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, one of only five SV examples fitted with the six-speed manual and its classic open gate. At the same time, Ferrari just unveiled the 12Cilindri Manuale, a 1,499-unit special series that brings the stick shift and clutch pedal back to a modern supercar, even if through an electronic solution. The message is hard to miss: the manual gearbox is vanishing from the mass market at the exact moment it becomes the most coveted feature in the performance and collector-car world.

The last manual Lamborghini goes under the hammer

The Murcielago in question is finished in a rare Marrone Eklipsis paint created through the Ad Personam program, has covered just 7,906 km, and is the only SV built with that color paired with Marrone Janus leather and Avorio Lilium Alcantara interior trim. RM Sotheby's is selling it without reserve, a move high-end auction houses often use to encourage aggressive bidding. Other manual Murcielago SVs sold in recent years have fetched between 1.75 and 2.25 million dollars; given this car's provenance and one-off spec, insiders would not be surprised to see a new record for the model. What makes the sale symbolic is the finality of it: after the Murcielago and the Gallardo, Sant'Agata never offered a clutch pedal on a production car again.

Ferrari puts the lever back on the center console

Where Lamborghini closed that chapter more than a decade ago, Ferrari has just gone the other way with the 12Cilindri Manuale, unveiled this summer: 830 hp from a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12, 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, a top speed beyond 340 km/h, and, most notably, a six-speed-plus-reverse manual gearbox offered alongside the standard eight-speed dual-clutch. It is not a purely mechanical link, though: the system, branded manual by-wire, reads the lever and clutch pedal movements through sensors and translates them into electronic commands to the transmission, with no automated rev-matching assist. The price tag is 590,000 euros with the Tailor Made program included, limited to 1,499 cars, with deliveries starting in early 2027. This is a manual gearbox engineered not to cut costs but to sell emotion to buyers who can afford it, the exact reversal of how three pedals used to be perceived twenty years ago.

Manual transmissions are now scarce even outside the luxury segment

The numbers back this up. In 2026, only 67 models from major manufacturers still offer a manual version, down from 82 the year before; out of nearly 300 models surveyed, 225 are now automatic-only. Italian figures need a closer read, too: the Fiat Panda, Italy's best-selling car in the first half of 2026 with more than 62,000 registrations, is effectively manual-only, but that is a pricing decision more than an enthusiast one, since it remains the cheapest entry point in the lineup. In other words, most of the manual volume still sold in Italy reflects budget, not desire, while in the performance and collector segment the trend runs the opposite way: manual is shifting from the cheap option to the one you pay extra for.

What it means for used-car pricing

That shift already shows up in resale values for the manual sports cars still on the road. A manual Ferrari F430, unavailable new for almost twenty years now, currently lists in Italy between 117,000 and 170,000 euros, averaging around 151,000 euros based on recent listings, a clear premium over the automated-manual versions of the same era, which remain more plentiful and less sought after by collectors. The same pattern applies to many manual Porsche 911s, BMW M cars, and even 2000s and 2010s hot hatches: once a manufacturer drops the manual option, the remaining cars automatically become rarer, more in demand, and more expensive to keep in good shape, because the mechanics who still specialize in clutches and synchros are getting rarer too.

What to check before buying a used manual sports car

Anyone shopping for a manual sports car or youngtimer on the used market should run through a few specific checks. First, confirm the gearbox is the genuine factory manual rather than the result of an amateur conversion, which can involve unhomologated work and complications at inspection or ownership transfer. Second, assess clutch wear, often the most expensive component to replace on a high-performance car, and ask for documentation of any recent work. Third, test the synchros through every gear on a cold and a warm engine, since a notchy or noisy shift can signal a gearbox due for an overhaul soon. Finally, provenance and service history matter more than ever: in a market where manual is becoming scarce, a complete service book and single ownership can mean a difference of thousands of euros at resale.

The takeaway

The manual gearbox is not dying, it is changing status, from base equipment to a collectible feature. If you are selling a sports car with three pedals, this is a good moment to have it properly appraised, because the market is starting to reward exactly what looked like an outdated technical detail not long ago. And if you are hunting for a genuinely manual sports car while prices are still reasonable, the window is closing faster than it appears, whether you are browsing dealer stock or peer-to-peer listings on a marketplace like VendiVoce, before the price gap with automatic versions becomes impossible to close.

Sources

1. RM Sotheby's, 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SV, Monterey Auction, August 2026
2. Octane Magazine, Final manual Lamborghini Murcielago SV heads to RM Sotheby's, August 2026
3. L'Automobile (ACI), Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale: tornano leva e frizione, ma in chiave by-wire, July 2026
4. alVolante.it, Il cambio manuale sta sparendo: ecco quali auto ce l'hanno ancora, July 2026
5. AutoUncle.it, Manual transmission Ferrari F430 used listings, market data, June 2026