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  The speed of the gearshift in the 458 is almost instant, with the double-clutch drivetrain offering un-interrupted acceleration. Photo Gallery

The chrome gated shift of an Italian manual sportscar is a thing of the past.

The manual gearbox - once seen to be the only gearbox for anything with sporting prowess - has become something more suited to old-school Ferrari cars as order sheets for traditional manuals have remained almost blank.

Ferrari's new 458 is now a two-pedal-only proposition, with the famous marque opting out of a traditional manual gearbox because of minimal demand.

Vittorio Dini, the engineer in charge of GT car engine development, says demand was miniscule for the manual gearbox in the 430 and the California, which prompted the 458 to be a double-clutch automated manual gearbox only. "There was no manual considered, it was always going to be a DCT gearbox, the manual comparison is just a simulation," he says.

Dini says the speed of the gearshift in the 458 is almost instant, with the double-clutch drivetrain offering un-interrupted acceleration. "The engine is synchronised to the gearbox, this brings the engine down quickly, you use the kinetic energy of the engine to give a little extra acceleration, so instead of reducing acceleration you maintain it," he says.

Dini says the manual gearbox requests didn't warrant the development and he is not saddened by the passing of the traditional manual transmission, although he understands why some people are. "It is, yes, we think so - but the requests for manual is very low, on the 430 was less than five per cent, California is worse because we developed a manual but we have almost no orders. "The performance difference is big - I understand the tradition of having the gate. "Me personally, I am not sad, because I am technically driven because I am an engineer, maybe some people in Ferrari who are more driven by history maybe, yes," he says.

Ferrari Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says the Australian uptake of manual transmissions has been similarly low on 430 and California models. "We're not offering manual on California yet anyway, but order rates on manual transmissions has effectively slowed down to nothing. "The vast majority of 430s are the F1 automated manuals, not since the 360 has there been a statistically-significant number of manuals sold," he says.