Ferrari’s Other 6-speed Swan Song

No manual-equipped Ferrari model seems to get Ferraristi drooling more than a one-of-thirty 6-speed 599 GTB Fiorano. Suddenly, that $175k used Ferrari has become a collector piece, selling for three times that of an F1 example. I’ve always found it curious that the same attention hasn’t been given to Ferrari’s other end-of-line 6-speed model, the F430. That might be changing.

PCarMarket sold a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider sporting a 6-speed transmission for $380,000, including buyer’s premium. Having travelled a scant 786 miles, the car is finished in traditional Rosso Corsa over beige leather Daytona seats with ball-polished wheels and red brake calipers, the eye appeal is strong. A quick glance from the outside will have you brushing it off as just another Spider until getting closer and seeing that glorious, gated shifter between the seats.

F430s with the more common F1 transmission have been selling in the $120k to $150k range in the past year, meaning this red example realized a $200k price bump due to that third pedal. That seems to be the case for many manual 430s. RM Sotheby’s sold a Giallo Modena six-speed Spider in Monterey last year for a similar price of $368,000. Gooding & Company also sold a manual Spider at its 2021 Pebble Beach sale for $307,500. The going rate seems to be in the $300k-$400k range but frankly, I’m surprised it is not a bit more. The F430 almost seems like a deal considering that manual 599s consistently break the half-million mark. Just last year, in the same sale as the $368k Spider, RM Sotheby’s sold a 6-speed-equipped 599 GTB for $709k. Four times the amount of its F1 counterpart.

I understand the treasured Ferrari tradition of front-engine V12 grand tourers with a manual transmission, and that a three-pedal 599 GTB is the culmination of that heritage while the V8 F430 is not. Nor is it lost on me that 30 examples of the manual 599 produced worldwide is far fewer than the 500 or so manual F430s delivered in the U.S. Still, 500 is not a huge number either.

If owning one of the final Ferraris produced with the haloed gated shifter is on your bucket list and the price tag on one of those thirty 599s is too hard to swallow, a 6-speed F430 should be the second choice. Yes, I realize the 612 Scaglietti was offered with a 6-speed, too. That can be number three.

Will the prices of F430s ever reach the level of their two-seater V12 siblings? Probably not, but values still have yet to reach their peak on these mid-engine machines. And, let’s face it, the manual transmission is all but extinct and that is not going to change. That makes these final three-pedal cars even more desirable.

Ferrari’s legendary status and revered sports car history will ensure there will always be a following for any example that offers gears to row. As part of Ferrari’s farewell to the manual transmission, the 6-speed F430 will never be just another used supercar. It is destined for collector car status, even if it is not quite there yet.