U.S.-based car customizer European Auto Group has already earned a reputation of a talented tuner when it fitted a six-speed manual transmission into a Ferrari F430 Scuderia. As it turns out, the same team is currently working on a much more ambitious project: a manual 458 Italia.
The company admits that replacing the entire transmission from scratch is unavoidable this time around. The team had it much easier with the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, since its non-F counterpart did ship with manual, making the conversion a relatively straightforward matter of adopting the components to a slightly different vehicle. On the contrary, the 458 Italia has been originally designed to work with a DCT and never with a manual gearbox.
Apparently, European Auto Group decided to follow through with the conversion when it got literally showered with requests from clients, who were even willing to pay in advance. Given the circumstances, the company has no doubt that the stick-shift Ferrari 458 Italia will be a major success. On the other hand, it warns us that limited availability of materials and the amount of work required to build just one copy would likely result in only 10 or 11 vehicles released.
First functioning prototypes should appear in a few months. Pricing remains a secret.
Photo: motor1.com