Ferrari is rumored to unveil a manual transmission supercar by early July, with hints from CEO Benedetto Vigna and a patent filing for a gated manual gearbox. The suggested date at the 24 Hours of Le Mans came and went without any debuts, but a new quote from Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna and a very intriguing new patent filing indicate that a reveal may still be imminent.
According to Autocar, during a conversation with U.S. dealers in Las Vegas, Vigna hinted at an early July debut of a major new development for Ferrari. Vigna reportedly said that the public "will see something new where we put together something from the past with eyes on the future" in "a few weeks," adding that the group should "wait until the fourth of July." That claim does not necessarily confirm any specific model, but a modern Ferrari with a manual certainly would seem to fit the description.
View Price on AmazonThe patent filing, on the other hand, seems to hint far more clearly at a gated manual gearbox in an existing Ferrari. First noted by CarBuzz, the filing for a "control tower of a gearbox for road vehicles" submitted by Ferrari and published on June 11th, includes a clear rendering of a manual gear selector. Notably, the term "gear selector" here is more literal than usual; the patent seems to describe a control mechanism to allow a gated, H-pattern system to remotely command an existing dual-clutch or automated transmission, rather than connect directly to the gearbox as in a more conventional manual.
The patent illustration depicts a gated manual-style selector with six numbered notches, as well as a series of small buttons surrounding it marked "M," "R," "N," and "D." Presumably, these individual buttons are designed to place the transmission in Manual, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive.
Another Ferrari patent application, filed May 14 and described as "electronic clutch for road vehicles," suggests at how a driver's left leg might also be involved in the fun. The electronic clutch pedal would seemingly operate like a conventional unit in terms of human interface, but "a detection device" would "supply an electrical signal to an electronic control unit ... configured to control the operation of the electronic clutch itself."
While the rumored manual 12Cilindri reveal at Le Mans never happened, that certainly doesn't mean that the car wasn't shown to someone at the race. If the public is going to see what is likely to be a limited-edition Ferrari in less than two weeks, it's certainly possible that Ferrari used the race as an opportunity to quietly show it off to potential customers before securing orders.
Source: roadandtrack.com
