This was posted by a Scud & manual F430 owner: Concerning the production numbers, I personally think that the world-wide rate should be more around 5% than 10%. I take the exemple of France where only 1% of the F430 were manual (the main Ferrari dealer in Paris told me at the end of the F430 production in 2009), whereas in the UK it was 13%. Supposing there were 17'000 F430 built, that would leave less than 1000 units (Coupe & Spider). Don't forget that the US and the UK were the main markets for the manual F430. In the rest of the world, those are very hard to find (some in Germany and Italy but that's it). But fore sure, we can't get the official numbers and all of that will always remain estimation. Besides the production numbers of the manual F430, it is the driving experience provided by this car. The mythic gate with this nearly 500 bhp mid-engine N/A V8... astonishing ! I do love the Scuderia for its gearbox which is the best single-clutch one, but if I had to choose it would be a 6-speed manual F430. The Last Of The Breed... By the way, you already have a Speciale, so a manual F430 would be the best complement
I like this review because I respect Harry Metcalfe's opinion, and also because most people on this forum would probably prefer the Scud. It's also nice to see the F430 getting some love. Seems very under appreciated at the moment, but the engine is a derivative of what is in the 458 and still very impressive. Also kind of represents an end of an era for Ferrari. And I never knew the front air ducts were inspired by 60s F1 cars. Now I have reason(s) to take an F430 over a 360 Spider (which is considered by most to be a better looking car).
