Ferrari hasn’t offered a manual transmission in a flagship V12 since 2007. That drought may end as soon as July, when the automaker is expected to unveil a three-pedal version of the 12Cilindri, according to The Supercar Blog.
An 819-horsepower, naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 mated to a stick shift. On paper, it’s the kind of car enthusiasts have been begging for since Ferrari abandoned the manual nearly two decades ago. The last Ferrari road car to offer one at all was the California, and that feels like a different geological era.
But before anyone starts saving pennies, understand the terms. The manual 12Cilindri will almost certainly be a limited-run affair, a few hundred units tops, reserved for Ferrari’s most loyal and deep-pocketed clients. Trademark filings hint at the name “12Cilindri MM,” which sounds appropriately exclusive for a car most people will never be allowed to buy.
This is Ferrari’s playbook now. The brand doesn’t democratize its greatest hits. It weaponizes scarcity.
A manual V12 GT in 2025 isn’t a product strategy. It’s a collectible minted at the factory, priced accordingly, and distributed like patronage. The waiting list won’t be a list — it’ll be an invitation.
The timing is notable. Ferrari just revealed the Luce, its first electric vehicle, a five-seat, battery-powered grand tourer that represents the company’s future whether traditionalists like it or not. Dropping a manual V12 weeks later is no accident. It’s a hedge, a love letter to the old guard timed precisely to soften the blow of electrification.
Ferrari may not stop with the 12Cilindri either. A separate trademark filing uncovered by CarBuzz points to something called a “digital” manual gearbox, an electronic clutch pedal engineered to replicate the feel, pressure, and rebound of a traditional setup. That technology could eventually migrate to electrified models, including future EVs.
The idea of rowing through gears in a battery-powered Ferrari sounds contradictory. But it also sounds like exactly the kind of theater Maranello loves to stage.
For the 12Cilindri MM, though, expect the real thing. A mechanical manual gearbox, three pedals, and a naturally aspirated engine screaming to its redline without turbochargers or electric motors intervening. It will be the purest driver’s Ferrari in a generation, and also among the last of its kind, which is precisely why Ferrari can charge whatever it wants and still have clients fighting over allocation.
The broader industry has been flirting with manual revivals for a couple of years now. Toyota kept the faith with the GR lineup. Porsche still offers a stick in the 911, and Aston Martin brought one back for the Vantage.
A manual Ferrari V12 occupies different territory entirely. It carries symbolic weight that transcends the gearbox itself.
Whether this signals a genuine philosophical shift at Ferrari or simply a calculated exercise in printing money through nostalgia remains to be seen. The smart bet is on the latter. Ferrari knows its audience.
The clients who will receive a manual 12Cilindri allocation already own a dozen Ferraris. They don’t need this car. They need to be seen as the kind of person Ferrari chose to sell it to.
Three pedals, 819 horsepower, and a velvet rope. That’s the modern Ferrari manual experience.
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