A six-speed “F1” electrohydraulic automated manual with shift paddles was made available to customers starting with the F355—a first for a road car. The three-pedal six-speed was installed in more F355s than the F1 transmission, roughly two to one, but the public took some time to adapt. That ratio was reversed for Ferrari’s mid-engine V-8 supercar’s next iteration, the 360. The F1 transmission became more popular, which was a turnabout that foreshadowed the gradual demise of the stick shift in Ferraris.
The F430, a mid-mounted V-8 Ferrari that was no longer produced in 2009, was the last model to include a gated shifter. The Ferrari 458 that came after it had only a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. It is believed that just 10% of the more over 15,000 F430s made have a conventional manual transmission, making it the least rare car on this list but still rare compared to other V-8 Ferraris.
Despite being 13 years old, the F430 drives like a contemporary Ferrari. It was the first vehicle from the manufacturer to have the Manettino dial on the steering wheel, a feature that is still present on later versions and allows the driver to choose between five driving modes with different characteristics. All prior models employed a V-8 derived from the Dino program, a 40-year-old development, while the F430’s V-8 was a brand-new creation shared with Maserati and later used in the 458.
The 2007 F430 being sold at Mecum Indy 2020 is fully outfitted and has only 441 kilometers on the odometer. This spider was made with no money spared. The $17,000 carbon ceramic brakes, which were then unheard of on road vehicles, were chosen by the original owner. Schedoni charged $115 per inch for the materials alone for an unique alligator pattern leather interior. A fantastic way to mark the end of the three-pedal era for mid-engine Ferraris is with this yellow F430 Spider.
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Ferrari 430 Scuderia manuals are more uncommon than F430 manuals
10% of the approximately 15,000 Ferrari F430s produced were manual. According to our calculations, around 1500 F430s were delivered with a stick. The more track-oriented Ferrari 430 Scuderia is produced in an estimated 1800 units. The manual is actually a great deal given that the 430 Scud costs significantly more than the F430. Without the bone-jarring suspension, you have a rarer and more interesting supercar. Even though the F430 manual isn’t as good of an investment as the 458 Speciale, a good specimen can be had for well over $200,000 and is expected to rise in value over time. There are models available for under $180,000, which is still less expensive than a 430 Scuderia. We would always choose to have the manual over the 430 Scud given how much more enjoyable the F430 is to drive.
Overview of the F430
The Ferrari F430 is a mid-engined 4.3L V8 Ferrari that was produced between 2004 and 2009, with the higher performance 430 Scuderia and 16M (430 Scuderia Spider) models coming out in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Rough estimates for total production show that 14,000 F430 and F430 Spiders, as well as 2,000 Scuderias and 499 16Ms, were produced.
The vehicle is powered by a Ferrari F136 E engine, which also appears in Maserati models with 4.2- and 4.7-liter displacements. 480 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque are produced by the 4.3L engine featured in the 430. In the Scuderia variations, these numbers were increased to 505 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. The F430 and Scuderia/16M reach their highest speeds of about 198 mph after reaching 0–62 mph in 4 and 3.6 seconds, respectively.
The Ferrari F430 is regarded as one of Ferrari’s entry-level supercars and the brand’s first really daily-drivable model. The use of a timing chain instead of a timing belt results in significant increases in reliability and decreased maintenance needs. As a result of no longer needing to replace the timing belt as often as previous models required, maintenance intervals are less disruptive. The F1 paddle shift transmission has been modified to produce substantially quicker shifts while applying heavy throttle and is engineered to help preserve the clutch in “typical” stop-and-go traffic.
As the shockingly expensive six-speed F430 Spider sells for $408,000, manual Ferrari values go up a gear.
Who among you read about the 11,000-mile 2009 Ferrari F430 Spider that we wrote about last week and then went out and bought a lottery ticket? It appears you would have required one. Its mileage and good condition appealed to me, and as a 2009 model, it’s one of the last F430s. However, what truly set it out and drove up the price was its extremely uncommon, six-speed manual transmission that was factory original.
One buyer was persuaded to pay an astronomical $408,430 to win Bring-a-auction Trailer’s and win the trailer in part because of the manual transmission. In case it has to be stated, that is an absurdly high price for a Ferrari F430. It costs almost as much as the limited-edition 430 16M, a roadster version of the 430 Scuderia and, in Ferrari’s opinion, the most driver-focused of the open-top F430s.
The hammer price of $408,430 is about $100,000 higher than recent sales of manual 430 Spiders on the same auction site, and it is more than double what you might expect to spend for a 430 Spider of the same age and mileage equipped with the more prevalent F1 semi-auto transmission. In addition, it costs $100k more than the advertised price of a brand-new F8 Spider and is probably more expensive than the price of a seat in the new 296 Spider Ferrari is now teasering.
Unsurprisingly, the price for one of these automobiles has caused a collective gasp on the internet, but the winning bidder, RapidoRacer on BaT, doesn’t seem to be experiencing any buyer’s remorse.
At the conclusion of the auction, RapidoRacer said in a comment under the ad, “I regret not buying a Daytona or Dino many moons ago.” Fortunately, I can afford to purchase this F430 that is the last of its model run.
Why would he spend so much money when he could get a paddle-shift F430 and convert it to a manual for a considerably lower cost? Although he doesn’t have anything against conversions, RapidoRacer asserts that he prefers uniqueness in his vehicles.
And no matter how skillfully done a conversion is, it will never restore an automobile to its original state. Although Ferrari owners (and owners of BMW E46 M3 CSLs) have been performing manual conversions for numerous years, theoretically damaging the authenticity of their vehicles because the cars are more enjoyable to drive with a stick, the conversions have nonetheless been carried out.
Furthermore, manual adaptations made for Ferrari F430s by companies like European Auto Group (EAG) are still valued more, not less, than stock, original F1-transmission F430s, if not even more than original manual cars. With the news of this sale price, it stands to reason that even more F1-shift cars will be converted, widening the already significant price gap between manual and semi-auto F430s.
The cost of a DIY manual conversion kit for an F430 is listed on the EAG website as $25,000, or $35,000 if one of their professionals installs it. The Toyota Supra ($15,000/$25,000) and Ferrari 599 ($35,000/45,000) can both be converted to manual transmissions using the same website.
Would you convert your Ferrari to a manual transmission in order to preserve its originality? Please tell us in a comment.
Instead of a new supercar, purchase this rare gated manual Ferrari F430.
Modern supercars make us long for simpler, less technologically advanced periods, as we’ve probably tired of saying by this point. What’s the point of having a monster with more than 700 horsepower that is so powerful and capable that it is impossible to use it on public roads? Even wealthy individuals can only attend so many track days.
You can still go fast by looking to older, but not too old, material, but not to the point where you’re going prison-spec speeds because you kept your foot down for one second too long. Additionally, it’s likely that performance will be given in a way that is lot more enjoyable. Consider the Ferrari F430, which has a 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 that produces 483 horsepower.
That certainly wouldn’t qualify as “slow,” but it also isn’t out of line. The manner the engine powers the rear wheels—through a gated manual gearbox—is equally important to the engine. This automobile is quite uncommon because only about 10% of F430s headed for the UK were equipped with the six-speed “old-fashioned” transmission rather than the “F1” sequential paddle shift system.
Additionally, the F430 was the final mid-engined Ferrari to be available with a stick shift. Your sole choice starting with the 458 Italia was a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. There are just 30 manual-equipped variants of the 599 GTB, so it’s hard to blame Maranello for the decline in demand for manual gearboxes in Ferraris in the 2010s. Famously, only two or three California customers are reported to have specified such a transmission.
Although the F430 has a manual option, don’t assume that makes it outdated. The company’s ‘E-Diff’ electronically controlled mechanical differential was installed in this Ferrari for the first time, and the now-famous’manettino’ steering wheel-mounted driving mode selection made its debut. Both of these parts have undergone evolution, and Maranello continues to use them. Similar to the 360 Modena before it, the F430 included adaptive dampers, which were still somewhat of a novelty at the time.
Apart from “a few minor flaws,” the paintwork of our F430 is said to be in “great shape.” The interior’s black leather seats have some little wear, but nothing major.
It has traveled 43,269 miles and undergone a ton of repair that sounds pricey that was done huge it in the summers of 2021 and 2020. Initially, the suspension was overhauled and the brake pads were replaced. More recently, it received new gear linkages, reconditioned wheels, and an engine bay paint job. There is a gap in the documentation from 2010 to 2013, but this shouldn’t worry you too much because the F430 was owned and serviced internally throughout that time by Lotus Silverstone.
Collecting Cars is holding an online auction for the Ferrari. With six days left, the bid stood at PS60,000, and the virtual hammer was scheduled to fall on November 17. Some F1 gearbox F430s sell for as little as PS60k, but because this one is a manual, we should be prepared to pay a significant premium. A powerful PS110k is the least expensive six-speed coupe we currently have available on Autotrader. But hey, for something that might be lot more enjoyable, that’s still significantly less expensive than a F8 Tributo.