Buy BMW's high-performance M5 sedan or M6 coupe and you get the seven-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox (SMG) in the bargain whether you like it or not. Porsche promises that its latest version of the 911 Turbo will run from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds when the driver has a six-speed manual transmission to stir — but only takes 3.4 seconds when there's a five-speed Tiptronic automatic aboard. Somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of the Ferrari F430s that come to America have the "F1-inspired" electronically triggered and hydraulically actuated transmission installed. Every Mercedes SLR McLaren comes with a five-speed automatic. Where the high end goes, the rest of the industry eventually follows. And the way this is going, the clutch pedal is doomed.

Automatics have outsold manual transmissions since at least the '60s, and electronic switches have been systematically replacing levers and human effort throughout the history of modern automobiles (and most of the rest of life, too). So most drivers will never miss manual transmissions when they disappear forever — in the same way that they don't miss window cranks, unassisted steering or running around their car to make sure all the doors are locked. But for anyone who enjoys driving, this is bad news because we're approaching the moment when there's no direct connection between man and machine; even in cars that are supposed to be quick, entertaining and engaging, everything a driver asks them to do will be in the form of a request to computerized intermediaries. Intermediaries that virtually always put other interests ahead of the driver's will.

In a bus, cab or hearse, losing the mechanical connection between driver and drivetrain is no big deal. But in a sports car….

Losing focus
Chevrolet began planting a new optional six-speed automatic in the Corvette's hind end this year, and for the first time in a Corvette, shifts in that automatic transmission can be triggered using switches mounted on the steering wheel — thumb tabs above the 9 and 3 o'clock spokes for upshifts, three-finger paddles behind those spokes for downshifts.

Puttering around town in "D" running errands, the new Corvette automatic is fine; the shifts are clean and seamless and the combination of a steeply overdriven (0.67:1) 6th gear and teeter-top 2.56:1 final drive ratio mean the engine barely turns faster than idle during a 65-mph cruise. The only hiccup comes when, accelerating from that cruise, the driver has to wait for the transmission to knock down two, three or maybe four gears to put the engine in the meat of its thick torque curve.

But for God's sake, if all you're doing is puttering around don't buy a 400-horsepower plastic two-seat sports car to do it in. Manually shifting the transmission with those triggers is an exercise in abject frustration; the upshifts take too long and the downshifts take even longer. Dive into a corner while downshifting and you're already past the apex by the time the gear you asked for is served up. And if your thumb is long enough to find that top trigger easily, seek out a zoologist and have him do a species check. It's not that the automatic-equipped Corvette isn't a blisteringly quick car (an automatic convertible C6 will rocket to 60 in 5.3 seconds — just a half-second worse than a manual coupe), but the reflexes to support that speed aren't as sharp or engaging. The car feels somewhat lazy. And elements that are part of the exciting, burly full-immersion experience in the manual-tranny car (like the heavy steering) become just annoying.

The automatic Corvette is philosophically at war with itself; a sports car with an engineered-in internal contradiction. Ferraris with the F1 transmission and Porsches running the Tiptronic suffer from this same fuzzy confusion, even if they're quicker with their electronically controlled gearboxes than with manual ones. But since the new transmission's introduction, 65 percent of new Corvettes (excluding the manual-only Z06) have been delivered with it aboard. So Chevy must be happy, and those buyers likely don't know what they're missing.

Changing character
The four-seat Mustang GT is a simpler, cheaper and less focused car than the Corvette, and it suffers less when there's an automatic aboard. But it's still a drastic change in character. The automatic Mustang GT — particularly in convertible form — is more party barge than muscle machine. Pack some friends aboard, throw in some toys and the world's worries melt away. With a 5.9-second 0-60 time, the automatic Mustang GT convertible is still quick but it's not a car that's begging to be pushed. It's a cruiser with attitude and that is no bad thing — a car that's fun in a social sense but not all that mechanically entertaining.

The manual-transmission Mustang GT, on the other hand (the right hand, which is making the shifts), is a car that when pushed, pushes back. It's an elemental car where the shifts are stout and you can feel the torque surging through the transmission with each shift. Turn the traction control off, and the hand you leave on the steering wheel feels the tire patches up front while the hand on the shifter monitors the slips and hiccups in back. Sophisticated? No way. Fun? All the time — torque, horsepower and a lever stirring gears like a circus novelty act.

Protecting cars from drivers
Taking the driver out of the shifting business is good business for the manufacturers. Even the very best modern shiftable automatic — VW/Audi's brilliant dual-clutch Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) — will keep the driver from doing anything that might harm the drivetrain. Why even mark the red line on a tachometer if the computers won't allow it to be exceeded anyhow?

Precise computer controls make meeting emissions and fuel-economy goals more straightforward; they can protect against driver behavior that can result in warranty claims, plus the market long ago showed it preferred automatics. And in raw performance, there is less and less measurable advantage for manual transmissions. Throw in the rise of computer-dependent hybrids and other technologies and it's hard to see how manual transmissions can long survive.

Sigh. Electronics promise a lot that's good for the future of personal transportation. But we're losing something valuable, too.