Ever since former Nissan engineering supremo Andy Palmer was put in charge of Aston Martin, the company has assured us that it plans to offer manual gearboxes wherever it can. Welcome confirmation of that has just been delivered with the announcement that the formerly automatic-only Vantage V12 S is about to be offered with a manual ?box for the first time.
Even better, this is a seven-speed transmission that incorporates a dogleg first gear similar to old race cars; this means that you select first by moving the shifter to the left and back, and that gears second through seventh will then occupy the three fore-and-back channels, although 2 sits above 3, 4 above 5, and 6 above 7. This is different to the seven-speed gear pattern offered in manual Porsche 911s and Chevrolet Corvettes, which leaves seventh on its own to the right of a conventional six-speed pattern. In most of the world the new transmission will be offered as a no-cost option alongside the existing, less-than-silken AMT single-clutch automated gearshift, but in the U.S. Aston says that the manual will be offered as a special edition with production limited to just 100 cars. With this Vantage set to retire next year before the arrival of a new version with anAMG-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, we should probably regard it?and the GTS version of the V8 Vantage announced at the same time?as being the long-lived sports car?s last hurrah.

The manual gearbox comes with a rev-matching system dubbed ...