- The only recent manual Aston Martins have been the uber-expensive Valiant and Valour.
- Adrian Hallmark would like Aston Martin to follow in the footsteps of Porsche.
It wasn’t that long ago when most high-end car manufacturers started to phase out manual transmissions, instead fitting quicker automatic gearboxes that promise to slash lap times and better suit ever-more-powerful cars. However, in recent years, there’s been a bit of a resurgence in demand for sports cars and supercars with stick shifts, and it seems Aston Martin has taken notice.
For the past few years, Porsche has been the leading purveyor of expensive cars offered with manuals. These include the Porsche 911 GT3 and the more recent 911 S/T. According to Aston Martin boss Adrian Hallmark, the British brand needs an answer to those cars.
Read: Aston Martin’s First EV Might Be Delayed Once Again
“Back to this question of ‘How do we develop each of the nameplates? Which direction do we take them?’ sportiness and real, purist sports-car experience, we need a manual,” he told Motor1. “We have one, but for that [the Vantage], it needs to be different. But watch this space.”
The only Aston Martin models sold with a manual are the exclusive Valiant and Valour. It’s been several years since Aston Martin built a more attainable production car with a stick shift, briefly offering the previous-generation Vantage with a traditional six-speed.
Hallmark did not say which of the brand’s current models could get a new transmission, nor when it could arrive. However, he did state that he would like Aston Martin to follow a similar model to the one perfected by Porsche in launching multiple versions of the same basic model.
It’s not just manual gearboxes that Aston Martin is working on. Earlier this week, Hallmark acknowledged that it continues to push forward with plans to launch its first EV. While this model may have been delayed yet again and likely won’t launch until towards the end of the decade, it could have body vibrations that make it feel like an ICE.
