The Top Gears: seven of the greatest manual gearboxes ever built

The Story

TopGear reports that Top Gears: seven of the greatest manual gearboxes ever built — here’s the gist of what’s worth knowing.

Got a lust for legwork?. From hot hatch to hypercar, you’ve come to the right place. Published: 22 Sep 2026 External link to Top Gear Magazine Subscription – 3 months for £6So here’s a question. If you had the enviable task of assembling the ultimate garage of any occasion dream cars – with the one common thread tying them together being three pedals in the footwell and a stick in the middle – how different would it look to this?.

Because choosing ‘the best’ manual gearbox is like definitively ranking the best guitar solo. Or your preferred child. You’ll secretly have a favourite, but it’s always subject to change and best not made public. Having stood down the UN peacekeepers, we split the manual hall of fame up into categories. From lightweights to grand tourers.

From hot hatches to hypercars. The manual gearbox is nothing if not versatile – here we have what’s essentially a 1950s antique lined up alongside the most powerful petrol road car of all time. The finest hot hatch of them all, and Audi’s finest creation to date. They’re all fantastic – including the rulebreaker.

Porschephiles will be coming out in hives. The 911 has played host to some corkers. The Cayman and Boxster too. But when it comes to celebrating the manual and representing The Sports Car, you don’t need to spend Porsche money to sample an all-time great.

So, these are our choices. TG’s most fondly remembered manual cars across all shapes, sizes and budgets actually. Tellingly, only three remain on sale today. So, if you want to enjoy the seven manuals to drive before you die. Better get a shift on.

Skip 4 photos in the image carousel and continue readingTurn on Javascript to see all the available pictures.1 / 4. Everything about a Seven is stripped back to the barest essentials – even how it feels to shift gears. You can be so economical with your movements – just as well when the cockpit is as commodious as an aluminium coffin. The stubby Bakelite knob looks like it’ll be horribly awkward, nestled deep in the transmission tunnel like some sort of prize egg in a falcon’s clifftop nest.

A Seven has been the purest distillation of a proper driver’s car ever since Colin Chapman willed it into life as the Lotus Seven in 1957. But you simply wouldn’t believe how polished Caterham – which bought the rights in 1973 and saved it from obscurity – has got it today. The build quality, the relentless lap after lap toughness, and the giant killing, eyeball drying, can’t hear yourself cackle speed. Do you ever wish it had paddles?. Do you heck.

It’s like a seven-eighths scale model of a manual, built by an obsessive engineering professor to show the perfect transmission. And because a Seven weighs as much as a teabag and in 620S form kicks out a mighty 310bhp, its rorty supercharged Ford Duratec motor devours each gear whole. So you’re frantically busy with that short, sharp, addictive shift.

Why It Matters

The polished gate, the knurled collar around the oversize gearknob and the glossy flat top.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

And a useful tutor: this is the only car in our magnificent seven which will blip the powerplant and rev-match on command. Watch this space over the coming weeks. Electric momentum is uneven across the industry, and moves like this reshape how buyers compare EV lineups. Range, charging speed, and price still dominate EV shopping — every new entry forces competitors to either match or reposition. Watch for EPA range certifications and DC fast-charge benchmarks once independent tests land. Pricing tiers, software updates, and any regional trim adjustments will tell us how serious the launch intent is.