Stickshift sports cars

Defending the caveman

At the end of its 10-year model run, the Lamborghini Gallardo is looking a little long in the tooth &#8211; if the cuspid in question belonged to a sabre toothed tiger.

Like that extinct predator the Gallardo still has a vicious bearing, and in its final year of production Lamborghini is throwing a sop to the Fred Flintstone in all of us. The last Gallardo will come with three pedals and a stick-shift transmission.

It will be the last of its breed, the final manual-transmission Lamborghini. Chief rival Ferrari dropped the stick after seeing the take rate on the row-your-own specification of its California convertible: just two were ordered. Two. The well-heeled, it would seem, have little use for heel-toe.

Though this may seem lamentable for the enthusiast community, it makes some sense. Modern supercars are as packed with go-fast technology as fighter jets, and an H-gate manual transmission seems as incongruous in their cabins as an eight-track player in an F-22 Raptor.

Extinction approaches. Survival of the fastest. The world moves on. And yet the dinosaurs are still out there, caveman-spec rides guaranteed to put a smile on a somewhat-unshaven face.

Here are seven premium sports cars still available with a stick-shift transmission &#8211; for now. Yabba dabba doo. The Glass so Beautiful