Auto News 5

It used to be so easy: Manuals were for real drivers, automatics were for lame-os. Now we've got dual-clutch gearboxes that drive like automatics (scads), wet-clutch automatics that can tach up from a standing start like a manual (Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG), and manuals where a computer heel-and-toes for you (Nissan 370Z). The debate is less about performance - the Porsche 911 Turbo does 0 to 60 mph quicker with an auto than it does with a manual - and more about control. Sure, automatics execute rev-matched downshifts, and dual-clutch boxes may be faster around a track than manuals, but neither allows the driver complete control. And that's all the manual has left, really.

It is a common truism about family businesses: the first generation creates the family fortune, the second consolidates it, and the third dissipates it. That is true for two leading carrozzerie Italiana, Bertone and Pininfarina, although the most important personalities of each house were of different generations: Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone (1914-1997) was a consolidator, and Battista "Pinin" Farina (1893-1966) was a founder.

What if you declared war and your top general immediately defected to the enemy? That's the dilemma Goodyear faced when it challenged Firestone, the racer's tire of choice ever since winning the Indy 500 in 1925.