Ferrari prices its fake-manual 12Cilindri at $1.32 million in China, nearly double the European price

Ferrari announced the Chinese price for the 12Cilindri Manuale on August 17, at 8.888 million yuan (about $1.32 million). Only 1,499 units will be built, a number chosen to honor the 1499 cc engine of Ferrari's first V12 from 1947. Deliveries start in early 2027.

The headline feature is a manual that is not really a manual. The car gets a clutch pedal and a gear lever, but the gearbox underneath is still the 8-speed dual-clutch unit, with no mechanical link between lever and transmission. Ferrari's by-wire Manuale system, under 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) in total, recreates the load and feedback of a real manual, including the mechanical clunk of each shift and even the stall when the driver botches the timing. To keep the focus on shifting gears yourself, the paddle shifters are gone.

The pricing tells a story of its own. In Europe the Manuale sells for 590,000 euros (about $683,000), roughly 50 percent more than the standard 12Cilindri. The Chinese price is nearly double the European figure. Ferrari commercial chief Enrico Galliera has admitted the 1,499 slots are essentially spoken for.

Mechanically it matches the standard car. The 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 makes 830 CV (819 hp) and 500 lb-ft of torque, redlines at 9,500 rpm, hits 60 mph in about 2.8 seconds and tops out above 211 mph.

A Ferrari with a clutch pedal and a gear lever, operated by a gearbox that shifts itself, is a love letter to the manual written as the V12 era winds down. In China, that nostalgia costs nearly twice what it does in Europe.