Battle of the manuals: Aston Martin Valour vs Porsche 911 S/T

EVs and ever-stricter emissions regulations mean the manual gearbox is becoming rarer – and yet there is also a bit of a renaissance occurring. The £2.8m GMA T.50 is only available with a manual gearbox, the £2.2m Pagani Utopia can be had with two or three pedals (with most owners opting for the latter) and at the other end of the scale, Toyota is testing a manual gearbox for electric vehicles.

In-between (though still very much at the expensive end of the scale) we have these two: the £1m Aston Martin Valour and the £231k Porsche 911 S/T.

The Valour pairs a manual gearbox with Aston’s twin-turbo 5.2-litre V12 for the first time, and those mechanicals are clothed in retro-inspired carbon fibre bodywork. Just 110 will be made, at £1m-plus each.

As for the Porsche, you can look at it either as a 911 GT3 RS with a manual gearbox and without that wing, or as a GT3 Touring with the wick turned up. Either way, it marries an epic engine that revs to 9,000rpm, with a manual ‘box and lightweight clutch.

There’s still life in the ol’ stick shift then. We sent the Aston and Porsche to some rather nice roads, together with editor-in-chief Jack Rix and deputy editor Ollie Kew, for a little celebration…