New Maserati and Alfa Romeo sports car might shift gears the old school way

In an age where manufacturers are making the most out of the advancement of technology, old-school Italian legends Alfa Romeo and Maserati are set to roll back the years with a limited manual sports car.

While Lamborghini and Ferrari may have overtaken these vintage Italian brands, the pair are not short in dreamy sports car history.

But having given more focus on limited production models in the 2020s, both Alfa Romeo and Maserati have wowed with some excellent new models.

Ahead of Alfa’s 100th anniversary, parent owner of both manufacturers, Stellantis, is set to bring the best of each brand together for a masterful new creation, blessed with an unexpected transmission.

Alfa Romeo and Maserati

Manual gearboxes might be coming to an end – executives from BMW have said as much, and Ferrari has been stern on its stance that it is an era gone by.

But you try telling Alfa Romeo and Maserati that.

Dripped in espresso and smelling of vintage leather, their new joint creation is expected to bring back the glory days of stick shift driving.

According to Autocar, the two Italian manufacturers are combining to make a limited edition manual sports car based on the GranTurismo.

The report suggests that the vehicle will be powered by Alfa’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 engine.

Previously, Head of Engineering at Maserati, Davide Danesin, said that the new cars in his assembly lines would be strictly automatic, but for limited production models, it could be an ‘opportunity’ to make a ‘purely mechanical’ manual sports car.

Alfa Romeo specifically is appropriately linked to the longer ‘stick’ look, over the short and nobbled manual joystick, and it would be a great touch if they could lean into the old-school aesthetic.

Entering a revival era for the manual sports car

Alfa Romeo and Maserati wouldn’t be the first to stand by stick shift gearboxes, though, as Aston Martin produced a beastly track-focused Valiant last year.

Hennessey went one step further, too, creating the world’s most powerful manual sports car in 2024 with the 1,817HP Venom F5-M.

Even bespoke supercars are choosing to have the throwback sticks.

While the manual gearbox is hardly a vintage feature from the black and white days, in this electrical era, its a rarity.

Going hand-in-hand with EVs, automatic transmissions are completely dominant in America.

But manufacturers in Europe appear to be holding on strong, and the manual sports car revival appears to be in full swing.

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