Features / 11 June 2021 / Albert du Toit

The most expensive manual cars in South Africa

The manual transmission is a dying breed, and it has become stranger to see a car with it rather than without it.

Not too many years ago it was considered a luxury to have an automatic transmission in your vehicle. Today, even entry-level models offer automatic gears.

It’s unfortunate to see it go, as the manual transmission has always provided another level of excitement for those who enjoy driving.

Being in control of your own gear changes can be bliss, and downshifting to get that extra jolt of power before a corner puts a smile on many a face.

The feeling of a gear lever being moved perfectly in time with pushing in the clutch can also never be replaced by an aluminum shift paddle.

Manuals in South Africa

South Africa is not immune to the rise of automatic vehicles, and in the past decade it has become normal for almost all models to offer an automatic variant.

To illustrate this, we searched for high-end brands which still offer models with manual transmissions.

The results were surprising.

While Porsche and Aston Martin are still representing well, there were several vans and 4×4 vehicles which came out as the “most expensive manual” from their respective brands.

The list below provides an overview of the search results.

It must be noted that the most expensive model from each brand was selected for the list – to avoid a single manufacturer taking up all the spots.

All information was collected using TopAuto Car Prices.