The Ferrari F430 represents an important milestone in Ferrari’s history, as it was the last mid-engine car from the storied Italian supercar brand to offer a manual transmission from the factory. While most stick-shift F430s languish in climate-controlled garages gaining value, there’s at least one out there being used as intended.
The AutoTopNL channel recently got the chance to drive an F430 equipped with a gated manual transmission on a slice of Germany’s unrestricted Autobahn, where there is no speed limit. With 483 horsepower on tap from a 4.3-liter V8, there’s no shortage of speed. The driver is able to reach an indicated 310 km/h (192 mph) before lifting for traffic. That’s just a few mph off the car’s official top speed of 196.
Even cooler than the numbers on the dash are the sounds coming from the engine bay and the center console. With a redline of 8,500 rpm, the flat-plane crank engine screams through each gear, and when it’s time to shift to the next cog, we’re treated to a satisfying click-clack as the driver moves the shifter lever.
New mid-engine Ferraris might be faster and more advanced than the F430, but we’d be hard-pressed to find something else in this segment that delivers the best combination of feedback, noise, and modernity. That’s probably why prices for manual F430s have spiked in recent years. Our advice? If you have one, hold onto it. Because you won’t find anything else like it.
