Not that I would care the slightest to get a manual transmission (hey...the car's gonna cost MORE than $30,000 -- I dunno about all you independently wealthy heirs or lottery winners, but for that much money, I think it should come to me when I whistle), but everything I read early on about the Challenger was that it was going to be on the LY platform, not the current LX. Now, though, stuff I've read indicates it's going to be on the LX ... which is to be replaced in '09 by the LY. Everything I've read about the LX platform is that it will NOT accommodate a manual transmission, which is why one was never offered in the Charger. If they're going to switch to the LY platform for the '09 models but are currently using the LX, maybe that's why all the '08s are going to have automatics.