Ford CEO Farley: They'll Have to Rip the Mustang's Stick Shift 'Out of Our Cold, Dead Hands'

The Chevrolet Camaro is long gone, and the Corvette hasn't offered a stick shift for more than half a decade. There’s no manual transmission Dodge muscle car anymore. But Ford is massively committed to keeping the three-pedal dream alive for the Mustang, as CEO Jim Farley told the press while Down Under at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix.

“Out of our cold, dead hands," Farley told CarExpert, "will we not have a manual Mustang,”

Such a response when asked about the Mustang is no surprise from Farley. The peak performance Mustang products all come with a two-pedal setup these days – the Mustang GTD and now the Dark Horse SC—but there’s no fear of losing it in the GT or regular Dark Horse if these comments are anything to go by. Ford took the manual option away from the EcoBoost starting with this current generation citing low demand; we don’t know exactly what the take rate is for V-8 models, but it’s still plenty high enough to justify keeping it around. Even if demand was a little weak, it’s hard to imagine Farley allowing the manual to go away.

Ford’s CEO was adamant in his comments, using the same words as the late actor and National Rifle Association president Chuck Heston, who popularized the term “from my cold, dead hands” at an NRA convention. In other words, Farley is making it clear that Ford will continue to produce manual transmission-equipped Mustangs for as long as possible.

Ford CEO Jim Farley.

It’s great to hear Farley’s enthusiasm for driver engagement, despite many other car companies eliminating manuals or already predicting their death. The manual is no more in Minis and barely hanging on in the VW GLI while being dead in the GTI and Golf R. We’ll be missing it in more cars soon, too, as more manual transmission cars like the Cadillac Blackwing models are discontinued at the end of the year.

A Michigan-born car nut and racing enthusiast, Zac Palmer is talking about or thinking about cars somewhere. He bought his first when he was still 15, a 2001 Acura Integra GS-R that still resides in the garage today. It's now joined by a 2004 Porsche Boxster S, and there will be even less practical additions to follow. Palmer worked at both Autoweek and Autoblog before joining R&T.