It goes without saying that there are too many cars out there lumped with slow, dim-witted automatic ‘boxes that could really benefit from a proper manual. The Smart Roadster, for instance, can fit the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy between its shifts, which has been a massive caveat on what is otherwise a brilliant little sports car. And then there’s the E46 M3 CSL, hamstrung by a dithering SMG for decades until Everything M3s saved the day with an OEM-grade manual conversion.
Here’s where the silver lining lies, at least, because these days there are enough specialists out there who’ll happy put the time into devising a manual swap for those with deep enough pockets. That’s exactly what the former owner of this Ferrari 599 GTB did. Granted, the 599 came at a time where Ferrari had fine tuned its F1 gearbox to swap cogs in just 85 milliseconds, which (pardon the cliche) is quite literally faster than the blink of an eye. But if you had the means to ditch the system for a traditional six-speed gated manual, most of us would doubtlessly pull the trigger.
After all, the 599 was available from the factory with a manual; the final V12 Ferrari to offered as such, in fact. The only problem was that flappy paddles were a novelty throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, and demand for an ‘old fashioned’ do-it-yourself gearbox was seemingly non-existent (though you have to wonder how much of that was down to the marketing team). Only 30 manual 599s, all of them GTBs, are believed to have come out of Maranello, and they therefore command a huge premium on the used market. By huge, we’re talking comfortably north of half a million - or five times the value of a regular F1. Even if you factor in the likely extortionate cost of changing a car’s gearbox, it’d still be considerably less expensive than buying the real thing.
It’s not like this example was put together on the cheap, either. The previous owner sourced genuine Ferrari parts for the conversion, which can’t have been easy given how incredibly rare genuine manuals are. The conversion was carried out in 2019 by the seller, SBR Engineering. Not only is it a Ferrari specialist, but it also maintains a fleet of Maranello’s finest GT racers and has racked up nine championships in the process. So if anyone’s going to hack your 599 to bits, you’d want it to be them.
As if a manual 599 wasn’t extraordinary enough, the car was originally ordered in 2007 by the Emir of Kuwait who, naturally, ticked pretty much every extra Ferrari could dream up. For example, the part beige, part red leather interior was specced under Ferrari’s Carrozzeria Personalisation Programme, covering the dash, rear bulkhead and optional carbon fibre bucket seats. It also benefits from GTO-style headers and a GTO remap, so should sound about as glorious as a naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 can. Which is very. The car remained in Kuwait until 2019, where it was imported to the UK and swiftly sent off for a manual conversion.
Now in 2024, it’s looking for a new home. You’ll need to give the seller a bell to see how much they want for it, and although it’ll likely carry a premium over a flappy paddle 599, there’s a good chance you can nab a sizeable saving over one of the original 30 manual examples (and only a handful of those made it to Europe anyway). And because it’s got 49,000 miles on the clock, there’s no need to keep it tucked away in your garage waiting for its value to rise. Take it for a spin, regularly, and experience the last ever manual Ferrari V12 at full chat.
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