This week's version of the DoubleClutch news roundup is gonna be a little different, because Nick is off, and it was looking like a slow week, so I was gonna run this Lamborghini story and not bother with news.
Then Monterey Car Week kicked off. Approximately 2,600 new millionaires are minted every day, and this is when they all go shopping for their next car-shaped investment with an incoherent alphanumeric name. Let's get to it.
McLaren unveils the McL 6GT concept - and it's manual! Wow!
McLaren took the wraps off the McL 6GT, an homage to McLaren's first attempt at a road-going supercar, the M6GT, based off the very successful M6A Can-Am race car. Only three of those original cars ended up being built - one of which served as Bruce McLaren's daily driver - and McLaren is hoping to sell quite a few more of these when the production version goes on sale in 2028. Pricing hasn't been unveiled, but rest assured, you absolutely cannot afford it.
Not much as been revealed about this; only that it will use a non-hybrid V8 of some sort, and that it will have the company's first manual gearbox since the legendary McLaren F1 of the nineties, using a unique exposed gear linkage.
I'm just excited that it doesn't look like every single other McLaren made in the last twenty years. Nailed it!
GMA REVEALS TRIBUTE TO MCLAREN F1: THE S1 - AND IT'S MANUAL! WOW!
Gordon Murray Automotive is famous for being led by, well, Gordon Murray, the man who designed the original McLaren F1, among others. In light of McLaren making a bunch a turbocharged cars that all look and sound the same and shift by themselves, he's taken up the mantle of building the "true" McLaren successor in models like the T50 and T33, but this S1 is as close to the original F1 as it gets.
Picking up from where last year's S1 LM left off (of which only 5 were slated for production, and all rumoured to have been bought by the same exceedingly well-heeled client), the S1 is a centrally seated, manually shifted, naturally aspirated supercar, using a Cosworth developed 4.2L V12 capable of revving to over 12,000 rpms, and making 680 horsepower and 368 foot-pounds of torque. All will have a six-speed manual transmission, with a unique exposed gear linkage.
Just as 64 McLaren F1s were built, 64 of these S1s will be built. Pricing hasn't been announced, but rest assured, you absolutely cannot afford it.
I personally don't really care, like, at all, for all these "reimagined" supercars that are so hot right now, but I gotta say, this looks... rather fetching. I like it a lot. Actual wow.
Spyker comes back from the dead (again) and reveals C8 Preliator XXV Coupe - And it's manual! Wow!
The Spyker name is well over a century old, and has unfortunately rarely been sustainable, having been bankrupted several times, and resurrected in 2000, 2015, and again just recently. Now they're showing off an updated version of the C8 Preliator they unveiled ten years ago.
This new car replaces the old Audi 4.2L V8 with a 4.0L Audi V8, trading point-two litres for two turbos, making 789 horsepower. This Spyker isn't like the other girls though - it uses a traditional six-speed manual gearbox, with a unique exposed shift linkage.
Pricing has been announced, and rest assured, you absolutely cannot afford it; it's $1.6 million USD. Interestingly, the 2016 C8 Preliator was priced at just under half a million USD; maybe that's why they went under last time. 25 cars are planned for production.
I am... hesitant about the rose gold. But, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt; seeing a Spyker in person is a rare treat, they are exquisite cars in the flesh and photos don't do them justice (...also, I can only imagine how much of a struggle it was to get that paint and the rose gold both look right in the photo edit).
Porsche adds a MT Package for the 2027 911 Carrera S in North America - and it's manual! Wow!
After having very recently discontinued the manual transmission option in the 911 Carrera S and locking it behind the very expensive 911 GTS and up, Porsche has relented to popular demand and brought the manual option back to the Carrera S, which, coincidentally, has become very expensive.
Unlike the manual 911 Carrera S from the good ole days of... 2024, this is the 6-speed Sport gearbox that started life in the 911R has since spread to other 911s, not the 7-speed unit from the 991 era. All manual cars also come with the Sport Chrono Package, PASM Sport Suspension, rear wheel steering, lightweight glass, reduced sound deadening, and specially tuned exhaust.
This option is only available for North America, because Europeans don't care, and think our obsession with manuals is really weird. Can't blame them for cashing in though! Pricing is about fifteen grand above a 911 Carrera S, and rest assured that even if you can afford it, you absolutely can not get an allocation.
From Porsche's North American Newsroom:
"Managing a clutch and shift lever isn’t for everyone, but for the drivers who want it there really is no substitute.” -Timo Resch, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America
Yup. Definitely not for everyone.
Gunther Werks unveils GXR-EVO, an even harder hardcore re-imagined porsche - and it's manual! Wow!
Gunther Werks, one of the earlier companies to market ultra-premium resto-mods of Gen X and Millennial poster cars, took the wraps off the GXR-EVO: a track-focused, street-legal salute to analog driving. Their signature carbon fibre bodywork is completely redone to dramatically increase downforce, and it's powered by a naturally aspirated, air-cooled screamer of a 4-litre flat six making 455 horsepower, routed through a six-speed manual gearbox, of course.
Extensive lightweighting efforts have brought the car's mass down to 2,386 pounds. That they managed to knock more than 200 pounds out of an already really light car is quite a feat, and there's lots of track-specific equipment, like fire suppression, harnesses, cages, and air jacks on board, too. The caliber of engineering and craftsmanship on display is super impressive.
Only 15 cars are slated for assembly. Each one comes with it's own bespoke sim-racing rig, so you can hone your track skills before you even get to the track. Pricing has not been announced, but rest assured, you absolutely cannot afford it.
RUF reveals new-old air-cooled Porsche 911 called the EHRA - and it's manual! Wow!
RUF was "re-imagining" 911s long, long before the California car scene monetized it, and this Ehra is the latest in that long, long line, named after the Ehra-Lessein test track where RUF first broke speed records with their original CTR "Yellowbird" in 1987.
Based on the air-cooled CTR anniversary model from last year, the Ehra is meant to be a slightly softer edged, more usable car, for the few who might be so bold as to drive their parked money. It loses the whale tail but gets wider haunches, and picks up a variable all wheel drive system to help manage the 3.6L twin-turbocharged flat-six engine's 650 horsepower, which is metered out by - you guessed it - a manual transmission, but with seven speeds!
RUF is incredibly legit. This is a 911 in spirit only; everything is all RUF. The carbon monocoque chassis (with four-corner double wishbones and front pushrod dampers) is developed entirely in house by them, as the 7-speed gearbox, and the engine, and the all wheel drive system. Not a single part of body, frame, floor pan, etc is Porsche. It's the only multi-million dollar "Porsche" on this list that doesn't require you to supply a Porsche as a prerequisite!
I like this one, guys. This is the one. This rocks.
I also love how chill their PR is. So much provenance, so little pretension. Love it.
Pricing hasn't been announced, but based on other ground-up RUF models, rest assured that you absolutely cannot afford it.
Singer unveils two "re-imagined" Porsches "Re-Re-Imagined" by Louis Vuitton - and they're manual! Wow!
Singer, who popularized "Re-Imagined" Porsches, has revealed two 911s commissions that are part of a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, the French fashion house who popularized the repeating logo as a pattern.
They're very fast, and very nice, and very manual, and have nice clocks and nice wood trim and stuff. Rest assured, you absolutely cannot afford them.
Speaking of cannot afford - there are rumours that Porsche was in talks to purchase Singer, which fell apart, and now Porsche is looking at buying RUF. Cannot confirm much beyond that at this time. It's an interesting move on their part, though - either company would give them a direct line into the multi-million market.
Koeniggsegg unveils CCGT1 - a 1,600hp tribute to a GT1 race car that never raced - and it's manual!* Wow!
Based on the CC850, the CCGT1 is an even more extreme version of that already wild car, and an homage to what was supposed to be Koeniggsegg's own GT1-class racer that never got to run with the McLaren F1 GTRs and Porsche 911 GT1s of the world before the rules changed. It uses the company's in-house twin-turbocharged 5-litre V8 to make 1,280 hp on pump gas, and up to 1,600 hp on ethanol. An optional track pack, with a roll cage, harness, air jacks, separate wheels with slicks, and more, finishes the job of transforming this into a weapon.
* The asterisk is because the CCGT1 is available with either a six-speed manual or a 9-speed sequential, like almost all of those GT1 racers and their road-going counterparts used. It has a clutch pedal that's used pretty much only for starting and stopping, and otherwise you're banging gears forward and backward, very close to the steering wheel, like a race car.
Both transmission options are based on Koeniggsegg's genius "Light Speed Transmission" which has no flywheel at all, and instead uses several oil-bathed multi-disc clutches (not unlike a motorcycle slipper/assist clutch, just lots of them) to enable multiple combinations of gear ratios that can be instantly and seamlessly engaged and disengaged, and as a result, can swap to and from any of its "gears" instantly, which is why it's actually a suitable candidate for a simulated manual shift action... but I digress. I could listen to Christian Von Koeniggsegg talk about this stuff forever.
70 are slated for production and have already been sold. Rest assured, you absolutely could not afford it anyway.
Aston Martin reveals the 838 hp Valen, and Lamborghini unveils the 1,050 hp Revuelto SV, and Bugatti rolls out the 1,578 hp Destrier - and they're not manual! Boo!
They are, however, incredibly cool cars. To dismiss them because they're not manual would be rather dumb, but it appears that's what the internet is doing.
Aston Martin Valen
Based on the Vanquish, the Valen uses an 838 hp twin-turbocharged 5.2L V12, mated to a ZF 8-speed transmission, which is a good idea with that kind of power and performance capability. Through extensive use of exotic materials - including aluminum, magnesium and titanium, not just carbon! - they've shaved 250 lbs off of the Vanquish. A very tricky exhaust setup ensures that V12 gets to sound beastly at all speeds while still being streetable and street legal, too. There's a lot going on, but it's the most focussed front-driver the company has ever built, and they're planning to build 150 of them.
Lamborghini Revuelto SV
A sharpened evolution of the already-ferocious Revuelto, the Revuelto SV's power gain comes from a larger battery that's able to drive more power through the electric motors in its hybrid system, totalling 1,050 hp and 1,051 lb-ft. of torque. The bigger story comes from dramatically more aggressive aerodynamics package, resulting in 80% more downforce, and more cooling for the enormous 16.1-inch carbon ceramic brakes hiding behind the lightweight center-lock wheels.
It also just set the production car lap record at Hockenheimring, ahead of the McLaren Senna - which, as you may recall, was quite fast.
Bugatti Destrier
Based on the Bolide, the Destrier is the latest creation from Bugatti's Programme Solitaire. There's a lot going on here, but not so much to say - while it is sure to be one of the absolute fastest cars on Earth, Bugatti hasn't boasted of any new ground broken in the art of speed, like they usually do. This is mostly just a design exercise, taking the already wild Bolide and it's 8L W16 engine to new, crazily exotic heights. I used to think these cars were overrated playthings, but if you see one in person, you'll realize these are high art. They're quite special.
In the case of all three, despite only having two lowly pedals for you to operate, you most certainly cannot afford these, either.
Boy, I am sure am glad the car world has heard the pleas of the common masses, and decided to finally #savethemanuals. It's all gonna be okay guys! We won!
...we did win, right? Guys?