The stick shift on a Ford Mustang GT.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
When the Chevrolet Camaro goes out of production at the end of the year, only two V8 manual transmission cars will remain: the Ford Mustang GT and the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. Once the powertrain of choice for Ferraris, Corvettes and Aston Martins, most automakers have moved on to automatic gearboxes and smaller engines with turbochargers.
Combining a V8 and a manual transmission makes for a sublime driving experience – one that came into focus recently behind the wheel of a new Mustang GT. The Mustang was America’s first pony car when it first hit dealerships in 1964, and it was affordable. It could be optioned with a burbling V8 and was so popular that GM rushed the Camaro into production, hoping to capture some of the Mustang’s runaway success.
While there are still two V8 manual cars remaining, we have to imagine that between rapidly evolving technology and slumping demand for sedans and sports cars, neither is long for this world.
As much as some lament the loss of these hand-and-foot-operated gearboxes, the reality is that they are increasingly out of place in a world of active safety systems and assisted-driving features. No matter how much enthusiasts like me use the “savethemanuals” hashtag on social media, it’s a shrinking niche.
Integrating a manual transmission into a modern car like the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is like training a digital device to communicate with hardware that doesn’t speak code.
The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing comes closer than any sports sedan to driving like a BMW M5.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
“We don’t have remote-start or Super Cruise [Cadillac’s hands-free driving system] available on the manual, and that’s kind of a big one,” says Alex MacDonald, global chief engineer for Cadillac. “[Super Cruise] is an incredible system, and it has to able to control the car through all its speed ranges, and it just works much better with an automatic transmission.”
Unlike the Mustang, the Cadillac isn’t a sports car, although you could argue it is based purely on performance. It’s a large, heavy luxury sedan fitted with the supercharged V8 from the last-generation Corvette Z06.
“It’s a thorough engineering effort every time you approach a new platform, even if you’ve used the engine in the past, and it has to be adapted,” MacDonald says. “The [Blackwing] needs to do everything.” That means it has to be as luxurious as it is fast, but it should also have a fully digitized cabin that can seat at least four comfortably, and have racetrack-ready brakes and suspension.
It’s a tall order, but the V-Series Cadillacs were designed to combat European sports sedans, especially the M division from BMW. You can think of the Blackwing as a direct response to the BMW M5, the original sports sedan. Beating the Germans at their own game is something many automakers have tried to do, most unsuccessfully. But the Blackwing comes closer than the others, and there’s also one area where it surpasses the M5: driving enjoyment, which can be directly attributed to the manual transmission.
The M5 that many regard as the best of the breed was the E39 (1998-2003), which is so fondly remembered because it was the last truly analog M5, and it only came with a manual gearbox. As the M5 gained performance with each successive generation, the manual was dropped, and despite being capable of blistering speeds on a track, it became clinical and cold. The speed was there, but the sensation was gone. In many ways, the Blackwing is reminiscent of the E39 M5. It has that old-school quality to it, and so does the Mustang, thanks mainly to its powertrain.
The V8 engine under the hood of the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
America’s last pony car was just updated, and Ford kept much of it the same, choosing not to mess with a platform that has been so successful. The Coyote V8 engine still dominates the experience, and it’s best with the manual, making you feel like a maestro conducting a virtuoso performance of internal combustion.
Now that just the Mustang and Blackwing are left, how much longer before they are discontinued? While manufacturers are typically tight-lipped about their plans, the writing is on the wall, at least for the Blackwing. Sedans continue to lose ground to SUVs, and the difficulties of offering a manual only increase every year.
The Mustang, being a dedicated sports car, will likely be the last one standing, but even here, there are signs of a decline. The company dropped the manual on the Ecoboost (four-cylinder) Mustangs and only offer it on the GT (V8), which starts at $54,675. Ford sold 1,827 Mustangs in the first half of 2024 and says the manual accounted for 28 per cent of GT sales, although the company doesn’t break down sales by trim. The fact is, it’s now more expensive than ever to outfit a Mustang with three pedals.
The Ford Mustang GT, America's last pony car.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
With a price tag of more than $100,000, the Blackwing is even more expensive and even more scarce, and this halo model is the only way to get to shift your own gears in a CT5. Surprisingly, even with its high price tag, the average customer isn’t as old as you might think.
The company tells us the majority are Gen X-ers and millennials in their early 40s who have hit some measure of success, the type of people who probably grew up reading auto magazines and pining for cars like the E39 M5.
MacDonald says that, despite the decline of sedans and V8s, the Blackwing has been very successful, showing that the demand for enthusiast cars like it still exists. “More than 50 per cent of the volume we’re selling is manuals,” he says. “We really have spoken to the customer in a way that’s resonated.”
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