Manual Transmissions Back in Jaguar's?

What interests me most about this revelation is that Jaguar, since the late 60's, hasn't really been considered a performance oriented brand. Nowadays, Most of the big kitties you see on the road are out dated X-types or over sized dinosaurs. However more recently, the new XK-RS snubs its nose at previous assumptions aimed towards Jaguar by being the baddest coupe in the states. It's not the fastest or the best handling, but it sure is one of the best looking rides out there. In fact, I included it on my list of the ten most beautiful cars in the U.S. Aside from that, manual transmissions were dead to the luxury-car world, or so we thought. Jaguar seems to think it would be sweet and fitting to drop a standard transmission into the new F-Type just for shiggles.

Why this sudden return to it's racing roots?

 "Autocar spoke with Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar global brand director, who stated that a true sports car needs a manual gearbox, and it sounds like a three-pedal transmission with "a minimum of six speeds" will make it into the Jaguar lineup soon." Whatever the reason is, it's a good enough for me. I love me my manual transmissions.

Source: Autoblog.com/wikipedia.com