The manual gearbox is enjoying a resurgence at the very top of the automotive hierarchy. Ferrari brought it back for the new 12Cilindri Manuale, and while not a true manual, Maranello’s V12 supercar does feature a gated shifter and even a clutch pedal. Hennessey is putting an honest-to-God manual in the Venom F5-M, while Porsche’s 911 GT3 S/C is a manual-only affair. If a new report is to be believed, McLaren is about to launch its own three-pedal performance car.
Without citing any sources, TheSupercarBlog alleges the project is internally known as the “P50.” Needless to say, there’s no connection to the Peel P50 microcar, aka the world’s smallest production car. Instead, the designation apparently belongs to a new McLaren model with a manual gearbox, which would be the brand’s first in nearly 30 years. The first and last time Woking built a car with a do-it-yourself transmission was during the F1’s production run from 1992 to 1998. To this day, it remains the world’s fastest naturally aspirated production car.
