20 years ago, ordering a Ferrari or Lamborghini with paddle shifters represented the future. Buyers overwhelmingly chose automated manuals such as Ferrari's F1 transmission, Lamborghini's e-gear, and Aston Martin's Sportshift, leaving traditional three-pedal cars and a stick to a small minority of enthusiasts. By the mid-2000s, manual take rates on many exotic cars had collapsed into single digits, leaving the manual gearbox as the version almost nobody ordered.
Today, in the age of electrification, that equation has completely reversed. Factory manual variants routinely command substantial premiums over their automated counterparts. At the same time, a renewed appreciation for analog driving has also helped fuel the rapid growth of the restomod market, where driver engagement with three pedals and a stick has become a defining characteristic. At the same time, scarcity has blurred the line between factory-built manuals and expertly converted examples.
Specialist workshops around the world now offer increasingly sophisticated manual conversions for many of the era's most desirable Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins. Often using OEM components, these conversions are designed to transform the driving experience while producing cars that can appear factory correct at first glance. Regardless of how well executed, however, a conversion is fundamentally different from a car that left the factory with three pedals and a stick.
Original manuals carry unique production histories, factory documentation, and historical significance that conversions cannot replicate. As values continue to diverge, collectors, buyers, insurers, auction houses, and market analysts are placing an ever greater emphasis on production numbers, provenance, originality, and documented factory specifications.
This guide picks up where our recent feature, Every New Car You Can Still Buy With a Manual Transmission, left off. While that article explored the shrinking number of three-pedal models still available in new-car showrooms, this guide turns to the collector market, where factory manual variants have become some of the most desirable specifications of the modern era.
This list focuses on 10 collectible supercars comprising mostly mid-engine exotics and V12 grand tourers that were offered from the factory with both a traditional manual gearbox and an automated transmission, precisely the combination that has made convincing manual conversions possible. For each model, we've compiled production years, transmission specifications, the most authoritative production data available, and the context needed to understand why original factory manuals have become so highly prized by collectors.
1. Ferrari F355 (1994 to 1999)
Factory Manual Production: 3,829 Berlinettas, 2,664 Spiders, and 2,048 GTS models (factory-importer documented)
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Total Production: 11,273 examples
Automated Alternative: Ferrari F1 automated manual (introduced for the 1997 model year)
2. Ferrari 360 Modena (1999 to 2005)
Factory Manual Production: No verified worldwide figure published by Ferrari. Commonly cited figures of 469 Modenas and 670 Spiders are believed to represent North American production only. Factory documentation estimates that globally, roughly 20% to 30% of the production run retained the 3-pedal layout.
Total Production: 8,800 Modenas, 7,565 Spiders, 1,288 Challenge Stradales
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: Ferrari F1 automated manual
3. Lamborghini Murciélago (2001 to 2010)
Factory Manual Production: No official model-wide figure exists. Documented production includes 985 manual coupes from the original 6.2-liter generation and 88 manual LP640 coupes worldwide, with 26 units making it Stateside. 6.2-Liter Roadsters account for roughly 25-30 estimated globally. LP640 Roadsters sit at 16, with fewer than 10 units delivered to the United States. As for the LP670-4 SV, only about seven factory-built manual SVs exist globally.
Total Production: 4,099 units
Manual Transmission: 6-speed open-gate manual
Automated Alternative: e-gear automated manual
4. Ferrari 575M Maranello (2002 to 2006)
Factory Manual Production: 246 units
Total Production: 2,056 examples
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: Ferrari F1 automated manual
5. Lamborghini Gallardo (2003 to 2013)
Factory Manual Production: Lamborghini has never published an official figure. Contemporary estimates suggest manual take rates fell from roughly 10 percent early in production to virtually zero by the end of the model's lifecycle.
Total Production: 14,022 units
Manual Transmission: 6-speed open-gate manual
Automated Alternative: e-gear automated manual
6. Ferrari F430 (2004 to 2009)
Factory Manual Production: No verified worldwide figure exists. RM Sotheby's documents 216 North American manual coupes, while worldwide production is generally estimated at around 10 percent of total output.
Total Production: Approximately 14,000 to 16,750 examples (Ferrari has never published an official figure)
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: F1 SuperFast automated manual
7. Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (2004 to 2011)
Factory Manual Production: 199 examples worldwide
Total Production: 3,025 examples
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: F1A automated manual
8. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (2006 to 2012)
Factory Manual Production: 30 examples worldwide (20 North America, 10 Europe)
Total Production: Approximately 3,500 to 3,600 examples
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: F1 SuperFast automated manual
9. Audi R8 V10 (2009 to 2015)
Factory Manual Production: Audi has never published a worldwide transmission split. A widely cited but unverified US owner-forum estimate puts manual V10 coupes at roughly 743 of 1,974 non-special-edition US examples, though the analysis is based on sales data. Global take rate estimates vary enormously by market, engine, and year, from roughly 1 percent late in the run-up to over a quarter of early V8 orders in some accounts.
Total Production: Approximately 28,600 examples (combined V8 and V10 Type 42 production)
Manual Transmission: 6-speed gated manual
Automated Alternative: R-tronic automated manual (2009–2012); S-tronic dual-clutch (2012–2015)
10. BMW M5 (E60/E61) (2005 to 2010)
Factory Manual Production: Approximately 1,366 E60 sedan examples (including six pre-production vehicles), all built exclusively for the North American market. The E61 Touring was never offered with a factory manual transmission.
Total Production: 19,564 E60 sedans and 1,025 E61 Tourings (20,589 examples combined)
Manual Transmission: 6-speed manual (E60 sedan only)
Automated Alternative: 7-speed SMG III automated manual
View All Manual Supercars and Exotics For Sale
Editor's Note: Production figures for many modern exotic cars remain the subject of ongoing debate, as manufacturers have rarely published transmission-specific production totals. Where official figures are unavailable, this guide relies on the most authoritative sources available, including factory documentation, manufacturer heritage archives, leading auction houses, marque registries, and respected industry publications. While every effort has been made to verify the information presented, discrepancies between sources may exist. This guide is intended to serve as a living collector reference and will be updated as new verified information becomes available.
