Could a New Transmission from Liberty’s Gears Change the Future of Stick Shift Classes?
The Stick Shift classes have been enjoying a resurgence at multiple levels of racing, including drag and drive events. In 2026, both Sick Week presented Gear Vendors Overdrive and the upcoming Street Car Braggin Rights event have seen record numbers of stick shift cars.
Many will admit what keeps a Shift Shift class interesting and balanced, regardless of drag and drive ‘average’ results, or heads-up racing action, is requiring a clutch-activated manual transmission, and for some, an ‘H-pattern’ shifter and linkage. But an announcement of a new transmission shipping out has the internet ablaze about the future of Stick Shift classes.
Sick the Magazine is READY for a solid 2026, and we’re teaming up with Braggin Rights and Street Car Takeover for the brand-new Speedfest event! For more information and details, including classes, format and tickets, visit the Speedfest event page by CLICKING HERE!
Today marks the first of Liberty’s Gears Extreme Billet manual transmission with a clutch-assisted set-up and a H-pattern shifter to be shipped. Liberty’s Gears rates these to 4,000 horsepower.
Although a quick glance at the quickest and fastest list of H-pattern stick shift rides may not have a car sporting 4,000 horsepower, discussions are already happening about if this transmission will quicken the pace of stick shift classes even more.
The first Liberty’s Gears Extreme Billet manual transmission with a clutch-assisted set-up and a H-pattern shifter is heading to Jon Rodgers, who has a solid resume in the stick shift wars. He’s been in the 6-second range with his Nissan 240SX, with two different engine platforms.
To this point, a built T-56 style transmission could handle the 6-second blasts needed to run at the front of the pure drag racing classes. But it wasn’t uncommon for a team to have a spare, or even a complete set of internals to rebuild it at a race.
Will this new transmission from Liberty’s Gears push stick shift classes to a new level?
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Liberty’s Gears, 1320 Video and Jon Rogers.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com