Aston Martin will have the manual version of the Vantage ready to launch this time next year, according to the company’s chief engineer Matt Becker.

Becker said that the anticipated manual Vantage will be introduced next year and that the company already has working prototypes to Road & Track. He also added that pairing the AMG V8 engine with a manual transmission isn’t as simple as its sounds.

“The 4.0-liter AMG engine doesn’t come with a manual anywhere else. So, actually, to integrate a manual into it is not without its challenges,” Becker said. “The software doesn’t exist so you have to create your own software. The driveline system doesn’t exist so you have to create your own.

“It’s quite complex, but we like a challenge.”

The finished product will be more rewarding to drive than its paddle-shifting sibling too. “It reminds you that you have to know how to drive,” Becker added.

Aston Martin is planning more versions of the Vantage, with the manual being just one of them. “You have to think that car is the starting point,” Becker said. “We can go more extreme with it for sure. We have the ability.”

It’s not that hard to imagine a Vantage being given a more hardcore AMR treatment, which even might include stuffing the bigger 5.2-liter V12 engine under its bonnet.

Aston Martin has been on a bit of a roll since the DB11’s debut back in 2016, with every new model being better than the one that replaces it. Becker said that this is all part of their learning process on the company’s new platform.

“Platforms are like human beings. You have to know what makes them tick.” Becker said. “Then once you work it out, when you’re engineering the car, when you do the next one, if you want to scale the handling performance up or down relative to the ride quality or whatever, you know exactly what tools to use to do that.”