Manual-Swapped Ferrari 458 Speciale Is A One-Off Masterpiece

Ferrari's 458 Speciale is, perhaps, one of the finest vehicles to leave Maranello in the last two decades.

With gorgeous styling, a mesmerizing V8, and razor-sharp handling, many Prancing Horse fans hold it in high regard. But is it perfect? Well, some would prefer a manual transmission in place of the dual-clutch. Sadly, this was never an option. That hasn't stopped one owner from converting his car and creating the world's first 458 Speciale with a manual gearbox.

The man behind the special conversion is the brain behind Modificata, a US-based company responsible for manual swaps in the 360 and 355 Challenge models. This isn't your average manual-swap DIY project. It took over three years to develop the transmission for the 458 Speciale, as they wanted to create the best possible gearbox for the rare Ferrari.

Youtuber Seen Through Glass flew from the UK to Connecticut to drive the 458 Speciale and was blown away by the experience. The owner of the Ferrari says many of the components come from other Ferraris, such as the 360 Modena and F430. The metal gear knob, for example, has been borrowed from an older 360.

But the new pedal box sets the driving experience apart from a regular 458 Speciale. Because Ferrari never made a manual 458, no donor pedal box was available. Instead, Modificata decided to use the pedal box from a 458 race car. Even though it has a sequential transmission, the race car does have a clutch pedal. This is needed to pull away initially but isn't required when changing gears.

"Firstly, the clutch pedal is very short, and the biting point is right down by the floor, so it takes [some time] to get used to the biting point," he says.

He adds, "The brake pedal is very different. It doesn't have that brake booster that you get in most road cars ... it's a bit more of an authentic feel, which means you have to get deeper into the pedal." The most significant changes come from the accelerator pedal, as Ferrari never designed the pedal for manual flipping between gear changes.

On the open road, Seen Through Glass admits this is as good as a manual-swapped 458 Speciale will ever get. He notes that Ferrari never designed the supercar to have a stick shift transmission, the electronic brain of the car doesn't expect the gears to be changed manually. "When you do it, be brave, committed, and not let the car know anything is different."

If you love Ferraris, it's worth watching the full video and learning more about this one-of-a-kind 458 Speciale. It may not be as fast as a modern SF90 Stradale, but we're guessing it's just as much fun - if not more.