Meet the Best Ferrari That Ferrari Never Made
European Auto Group has improved this Ferrari F430 Scuderia immeasurably, by making it measurably worse, and it’s all the better for it.
Ferrari is one of the most fascinating car companies to ever exist. Founder Enzo Ferrari was famously fixated on racing, and nothing else. He held his customers in contempt, scoffing at the notion of a Ferrari for road-use, only acquiescing while on the verge of bankruptcy. Ferrari now claims over $4,500,000,000 in assets.
The Ferrari of today, however, is no less enigmatic, still eyeing its customers with thinly-veiled contempt. No other brand regularly sends cease and desists when customers modify their cars, or post pictures of them on Instagram. So Ferrari is going to be pissed about this.
It’s a 2008 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, and everything looks like business as usual on the outside, or, at least, as business as usual as a carbon fiber-intensive, mid-engined Italian supercar can appear. However, as soon as the carbon fiber doors are opened, the secret of this particular F430 Scuderia is revealed.
Where there is normally a bevy of buttons in the center console to control the SuperFast II single-clutch automatic transmission there is, instead, a gated shifter will an aluminum shift lever. This is the world’s only 6-speed manual Ferrari F430 Scuderia.
It’s the handiwork of Texas tuning firm European Auto Group, a company which has begun offering manual transmission conversions on late model Ferraris, a possibility made into a reality thanks to the correct mix of original OEM Ferrari parts. This F430 Scuderia is their shop demonstrator car, and as a manual transmission diehard, I just have to give it a shot, so let’s.
Behind the Wheel
The carbon fiber doors close with a delicate ka-chink, and once inside the spartan nature of the Scuderia is apparent. This hardcore model dropped 220 pounds off the curb weight of the standard F430, down to 2,975 pounds, and, much of that weight savings is visible. There are no carpets, and everything as far as the eye can see is made of carbon fiber, most of which is exposed, and some of which is just the least bit clad by waif-like swatches of alcantara. Everything about the inside of the F430 Scuderia feels special.
It feels even more special once the engine is fired up. The naturally-aspirated 4.3-liter V8 engine screams into existence, with its idle eventually settling into something near sub-deafening levels. Sound deadening was also scrapped on the Scuderia diet plan, and it’s all the better for it.
Driving the Scuderia starts slowly. Like any new manual car, it takes a second to learn the clutch, but that’s it, just a second. The clutch pedal is firm, nicely-weighted and progressive. Slotting the gated shifter into first gear is equally firm, and crisp. And away we go.
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In traffic, the Scuderia is surprisingly tepid and easy to drive. The V8 snarls and the exhaust barks at passersby, even just off idle, but it’s no harder to drive than a Corvette, or a Miata, or, really, any other manual car.
Once traffic clears, I’m afforded the leeway to lean on the V8 and open it up. Dear god, the acceleration is brutal. Despite being a high-strung Ferrari engine, the torque curve is perfectly linear. It produces 347 pound-feet of torque at 5,250 RPM but because it’s so light, the Scuderia picks up and goes, at any speed in any gear. And because it’s a high-strung Ferrari engine, it positively screams up to the 9,000 RPM red line. The induction note is hard-edged and metallic, and the exhaust howling all the while. It’s not symphonic, it’s operatic, beyond exciting and causes me to eventually lose my voice from screaming and laughing so hard.
All the while, it’s now up to me to keep that engine screaming, changing gears, manually, with shifter clinking through the gates. First gear, ka-chink, second gear, ka-chink, third gear. As the speeds build, my pace slows down, shifting gears in this car is an experience to savor and masticate upon. So I did it over, and over, and over again. Downshifting and upshifting, running through the gears as much as humanly possible. Please never end, this experience is otherworldly. This is the best manual transmission ever created. It’s divine.
Then I missed a gear, instead hitting one of the gates and the engine howled as it free-revved to 9,000 RPM. It was all my fault. The SuperFast II automatic transmission, which was praised for being able to shift in 60-milliseconds, would never do this. Ferrari, like many other high-end car manufacturers switched these quick-shifting automatics for this exact reason, they’re statistically better, superior to the flawed human operator. This Scuderia is slower than any other, because now it’s up to the driver to take control. It’s measurably worse, but immeasurably better for it. The sacrifice in outright speed is a welcome trade-off for this level of engagement, excitement and driving joy. This is what driving is all about.
The craziest thing of all, is that this whole experience feels like it could have come straight from Ferrari, and that’s the kicker, because European Auto Group uses all OEM Ferrari parts to create the conversion, it feels like a factory effort. The SuperFast II transmission is already a manual transmission that is controlled by a series of hydraulic actuators to begin with so it stays, but is adapted to accept conventional shift linkage cables and a conventional hydraulic clutch setup, where the clutch pedal controls the operation of the clutch.
The process to convert an F430 to a 6-speed manual costs about $30,000 all-in. For the time being, European Auto Group is only converting F430s, but that may change based on customer demand. After returning the Scud to their shop they pointed out several other F430s in the shop already in the process of being converted. Long live the manual transmission.
Want to see more Corvette goodness? Follow Jake on Instagram, it’s all cars all the time. You should also follow European Auto Group, because they’re also working on the 2020 Supra manual conversions, too.
