Vantage SP10 available with manual gearbox, thank you Aston Martin

The hegemony of double-clutch gearboxes in the English brand was broken by the launch of the Aston Martin Vantage SP10 with manual gearbox.

Accelerate, engage, shift into gear, disengage and accelerate again. It was like that for years and years on end. Then came the automatic gearboxes capable of following the "race pace" of sports cars and finally the double-clutch gearboxes. With them also came some very tempting promises: less emissions, lower fuel consumption, stronger accelerations and faster times on the track. The world surrendered to the enchantments of these two new solutions and little by little, the faithful manual boxes were disappearing.

But there is a loyal group of drivers who continue to miss “speed up, engage, shift into gear, disengage and speed up again” because they find “speed up and press a button and keep on speeding up” monotonous and unchallenging. For this group, this restricted group of drivers Aston Martin launched the new Vantage SP10 with the option of coming equipped with a manual gearbox.

That's 430hp of power provided by an atmospheric V8 full of «pedigree», managed and delivered to the rear axle by means of an «old» and faithful manual gearbox. This sounds so good! It seems that in the centenary year it is Aston Martin that celebrates but we are the ones awarded. Long life to the manual transmission!

Text: Guilherme Ferreira da Costa