Ferrari and Lamborghini have all dropped them, but Maserati has suggested a manual transmission could be offered in a new supercar it may co-develop with fellow Italian brand Alfa Romeo.
British publication Autocar has said the new flagship supercar – Maserati’s first since the Ferrari-based MC12 sold between 2004 and 2005 – could be unveiled as soon as 2026 with a manual transmission.
“There are still customers looking for pure mechanical cars,” Maserati engineering boss Davide Danesin told Autocar.
“By doing a purely mechanical car, it does make sense to have a mechanical gearbox with a shifter. So why not? It fulfils perfectly the brand. It fulfils perfectly our approach and the mindset. So honestly, I think one day we’ll do it.”
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Maserati has not offered a manual gearbox in a production car since 2019, when production of the first-generation GranTurismo wound up. The current model is offered with automatic transmission only.
The proposed new grand touring supercar, which would likely be a limited-edition flagship, would be co-developed with Alfa Romeo since both brands are owned by Stellantis and share the same CEO, Santo Filici.
The two Italian automakers have collaborated on numerous projects in the past, with Maserati most recently supplying the chassis from its MC20 sports car to produce the 2024 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale supercar.
The 33 Stradale was a limited-run model, with only 33 units produced globally. None made it to Australia and each vehicle was priced at €3 million ($A5.33 million).
When asked about a new Maserati supercar, Mr Filici told Autocar: “We have infinite possibilities to customise products for our customers, for the entire range of Maserati. I’m imagining to do something like we did in the past, also considering Alfa Romeo.”
This could mean using the underpinnings of the second-generation Maserati GranTurismo, introduced in 2023, which is sold in Australia only with the company’s 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol ‘Nettuno’ engine, but is also available in some markets with a battery-electric powertrain.
Mr Filici told the British publication the new limited-edition model would be a celebration of the Nettuno engine – which made its debut in the MC20 supercar – describing it as “a masterpiece”.
“We can imagine a ‘few-off’ Maserati. It’s easy, because you can look at the past of these two brands, and you can find a nice car like the 33 Stradale, and we can invent something like this,” he said.
Manual transmissions have gradually disappeared from road cars – and been largely replaced by dual-clutch automatics – with Ferrari and Lamborghini not offering a traditional three-pedal production model for more than a decade.
Ferrari, which last offered a manual in 2012, has suggested the old-school transmission type may make a comeback in its cars, including a project led by its 2025 Formula 1 recruit, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
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