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Back in the day, you’d have to really struggle to find any kind of sports car with an automatic transmission, if you could find one at all. Manual transmissions have always allowed for better performance, control and outright fun. But the manual transmission craze is fast fading, even in the sports car market. If you still hang on to the ideal of true sports cars sporting only manual transmissions, you may be disappointed in General Motor’s latest expectation for the Camaro ZL1. As Autoblog reports, over half of the ZL1s ordered are expected to be bought with an automatic transmission.
It wasn’t until recently that we saw an incredible increase in the demand for automatic-equipped sports cars. Just a few years ago, you couldn’t even find a supercar with anything less than three pedals, but times have changed. For whatever reason, be it that they are easier to drive or don’t lack the performance that manuals have anymore, more and more cars are being bought with automatics. With the demand up significantly, more models are being manufactured with only automatic transmissions, giving consumers less of a choice between manuals and automatics.
Following the demand last year, 89 percent of 2010 passenger cars were manufactured with automatic transmissions, according to the Ward’s Auto report. And we’re not just talking about grocery getters and family sedans. Sports cars fitted with automatics are also becoming increasingly popular. In fact, some 70 percent of the current Camaro SS models sold are automatics, followed closely by 65 percent of Corvettes. No wonder GM is expecting over half of their latest sports car creation, the ZL1 Camaro, to be bought with an automatic gearbox.
Although a bit surprising since the ZL1 is set to be the most powerful Camaro to have ever hit the market, the new Camaros sold with automatic transmissions will be a sign of the times. Even for someone who struggled to learn a manual transmission, this reality is sad. Fortunately, the ZL1 will still have the manual option, as it very well should.
We will have to wait until 2012 to see if GM’s predictions are correct. While automatics have come a long way, manuals will always have a place in the heart of any true sports car enthusiast. May we never get to a point where the manual transmission becomes completely extinct.
