If you want to see what a blue-collar Corvette will be capable of in 5-10 years, just look at what the Europeans are charging $500,000+ for today. This quazi-rule of thumb has been particularly true over the last two decades; just six years after Ferrari’s follow-up to the F40 and F50 was so good they christened it with the name of the company’s founder, a Corvette wearing the exact same set of ceramic brakes was accelerating, gripping, and, yes, stopping, with almost identical ferocity – for one sixth the price.
As progress in performance cars has marched on at a breakneck pace, we now live in a world where there’s a $210,000 Corvette that hews so closely to the hallowed million-dollar Porsche 918 Spyder (plus an extra 363 horsepower), that the pair were the subject of an outstanding Road&Track piece last week (subscription, unfortunately, required).
Photo Credit: Gordon Murray Special Vehicles
Based on what we just witnessed coming out of the automotive festival for the 1% known as Monterey Car Week, simply piling on more speed might no longer cut it when the C9 Corvette arrives in Chevrolet showrooms. You see, through pure electrification, production cars recently got faster than many previously imagined possible… and failed to sell. While driving around ungodly fast but aloof EVs with nothing to listen to except their own thoughts and insecurities, the wealthy quickly realized that maybe the ability to go fast isn’t what had drawn them to supercars all these years. Perhaps the allure was something more visceral, more involved, and intangible.
Mirroring the broader cultural trends driving the boom in classic physical media: digital fatigue, algorithm overdose, subscription exhaustion, and a desire to just do something real, high-end car makers are dealing with a flood of demand for analog sporting machines, and, as of Monterey 2026, they’re finally answering the bell. With values of his most famous creation up to almost $30-million, Gordon Murray’s newish eponymous small-batch maker unveiled the manual-only S1, which is like a carbon copy of the F1, only better, because its modern V12 spins to a stratospheric 12,100 RPM. While the F1’s designer was unveiling his own car, its makers at McLaren had something up their own sleeves.
Photo Credit: McLaren
It’s called the McL 6GT, and as Aaron Robinson pointed out, it represents something completely new for the usually forward-looking British go-fast firm; a nostalgia play. In a departure from the company’s usual present-day design language, the 6GT gets its looks from the company’s first road-going vehicle from the 1960s, a passion project of founder Bruce McLaren. The new one will likely feature the ubiquitous 4.0L twin-turbo V8 and Woking’s first manual transmission since the F1 went out of production in the late ‘90s.
While both of those Car Week headliners are seven-figure limited-run examples, it’s the Corvette’s mortal enemy that should really have GM’s attention. When Porsche launched the current-generation 911, it put the manual transmission on the back burner. Of the 24+ variants that the 992.2 has spawned, a third pedal has only ever been offered in the ($148,000) “T” version of the base, 388 horsepower Carrera and the 502-horse GT3 ($235,800 if you can get one at MSRP) enthusiast special, or as Car and Driver so elegantly put it, manual intenders were limited to either “Ribeye or a Ham Sandwich.”
Photo Credit: Porsche
Well, Porsche has now expanded its stick-shift menu to include a cheeseburger in the form of the Carrera S with a new MT package. On top of the regular rear-wheel-drive Carrera S more potent 473 HP twin-snail 3.0L flat-six, MT cars will have a lowered sport suspension, standard centerlock wheels, four-wheel steering, and the Sport Chrono package, and some questionable stickers and badges included along with the pièce de résistance: a six-speed manual shifter finished in genuine walnut.
Much like what’s been happening in Corvette circles since the clutch pedal was sidelined in 2020, the MT came about because of intense demand in the North American market – which will be the exclusive home of the new shift-your-own Carrera S, even domestic German customers need not apply. The Carrera S starts at $156,200 and opting to throw the PDK automatic out in favor of an old school experience will cost an additional $13,250, for a total of $169,450. You might be thinking “you can get a whole lot of Corvette for that kind of coin,” and you’d be right, but hopefully General Motors is taking note that a starving customer base is willing to pay more than 8% over MSRP for what used to be that standard transmission. Sounds like a win for the fanbase, and an even bigger one for management. These marketplace developments and the man behind the manual-transmission Cadillac that is widely considered the best car GM makes being at the helm has us feeling quite bullish on the prospect of a stick-shifted C9. We just hope we don’t have to wait a decade to see it come to fruition.
Related:
[VIDEO] Rezvani Is Bringing this $25,000 Gated Manual to the C8 Corvette Platform
[VIDEO] Ferrari’s New By-Wire Manual Transmission Shows GM the Path Forward
[VIDEO] TREMEC’s Aftermarket Chief is Asked if a Manual C8 Corvette is Happening
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Amen
It’s being offered but how many will tick the box?
I’m not saying the C8 doesn’t look good, but, does anyone else see a bit of the Czinger from this concept C9? Since the C8, the Corvette doesn’t resemble a Corvette as much as a combination of a Ferrari and Lamborghini. Both equally nice looking cars but, distinct to their brand. Whereas the C8 looks like it’s trying to be one of those cars instead of a Corvette. Don’t even get me started on the sound of the C8, another signature Corvette feature tossed aside for a mid-engine layout.
I think Chevy/GM forgot the Corvette was the ‘blue-collar supercar’ and saw the word supercar and wanted the supercar price tag to match, with their Euro competitors. I think they forgot, or don’t care, about one of the things that made this car popular, affordability. Now, it’s their premium brand, and that will always come at a higher cost.
Throwing a manual, clutch and stick, on the next gen car seems like a step backwards at this point. But, I’m sure nostalgia will sell a few cars.
Who wants to be stuck in traffic with a clutch pedal??? Delusional libtards…there’s plenty of c6/7 with manual transmission available…no one can replicate the efficiency and availability of a dual clutch sequential transmission…again need to shift and miss a gear get an older corvette. Besides the new C8 is the closest anyone can get to drive a c8r is a c8 z06…by the way the most fun thing to do with your pants on…
GM has no incentive to build a M/R manual. F/R manual, sure. They can and will offer one in the 7th gen Camaro and CT5 replacement. But M/R would only be useful for the Corvette–and the take rates aren’t going to be great among a single car whose demographic tends to already have bad knees.
Good question, Twenty7GS. In the US, the pre-facelift 992 GT3 had a 70% take rate for the manual, and the most recent statistic Porsche revealed was that the wingless Touring model is all the way up at 80%, so I’m guessing the MT Carrera S will do quite well.
I’d love to see what demand for a manual ‘Vette would look like after so many years off. I’d also like to think that Porsche buyers aren’t bigger driving enthusiasts than the folks in our camp. The Blackwing sedans have shown really well for GM, with both the CT4 and CT5 hovering around a 50% take rate for the six-speed after hitting 62% in the first year of production and I maintain that a great deal of the automatics are being ordered by risk-averse dealers while customer orders lean heavily manual. It’s also a numbers game that’s easy to win if you’re GM; there were more manual C7s sold than the total number of 911s (with any transmission) during the same years – don’t buy the corporate line that the stick wasn’t sustainable, that was purely an excuse that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Alex,
The MT vs AT for lot stock is already settled at this point. It’s not a risk averse thing to order AT (DCT). The MPG and performance > MT. Which leaves MT as a specific flavor anomaly among buyers who deliberately wish for more “engagement” at the cost of various other things. MT is effectively an inferior car that the dealer has to charge MORE for.
The % of MT take rate in Porsche is due to the conflux of buyers to whom efficiency and additional cost–is irrelevant. At $13,250–Porsche can afford to amortize the R&D of a MT over per-unit sales. 13 grand of upcharge for a Corvette MT is a death knell for the offering. (8% upcharge for the Porsche; closer to 17% for a Corvette–at these prices).
The MT is even less sustainable now than it was 10 years ago. DCT eats the MT’s breakfast and steals its lunch money. The writing was on the wall for MT in 2005 when the R171 SLK55 AMG (A7) beat the C6 base (M6) by a 1/10th. And it’s only gotten more stark in the 20 years since. The consumer demographic is far less inclined towards MT than ever (even without the performance drawbacks).
Then you factor in the intervening years where MT hasn’t been an option on Corvette–and how many previous MT die-hards insist they won’t go back–because the DCT is that good. The target market demographic pool is a mere fraction of what it once was. At best, there’d be an artificial spike in the 1st year of offering it–and a huge decline in demand for years 2+.
So we’re doing this again with this clown in the comments who loves to snipe every time manual transmission is mentioned. Obviously someone’s incentivizing his continued ramblings, because no rational person cares about options they don’t want, so long as those they do remain available. The facts are not disputable – 25% manual take rate across the C7 generation. Industry marketing research (Harris, etc.) shows over 90% of those buyers will not return to Corvette without a manual offering. That’s tens of thousands of potential buyers who never bought C8. These are not folks who’ve settled for the DCT and might decide they’re okay with it. Many of them have already purchased Porsches or other C7s. But Chevy can likely conquest most of them with the return of a three pedal offering.
It’s purely nostalgic. A human can’t shift as fast as a DCT. So performance-wise the DCT is a clear winner. I wouldn’t go back to a manual, and An_D, there’s a reason that the Lambo and Ferrari cars share their design with Corvette. When the engine is in the middle, you have to have some way of directing air through the front rads as well as blowing air over it. Hence, side intakes of some sort, and exterior design that enhances that airflow. It’s not copying, it’s the nature of the mid engine layout.
The issue with manual transmissions is that they are slow and will make you slow, too, even if you’re AJ Foyt.
I have a C7 MT and I’m not getting another Corvette unless they offer a manual. I love the feel and the connection to the car, it’s not just about speed.
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