a manual transmission clutch protection apparatus includes a shift gate cylinder acted upon by the operator controlled shift lever having a first shift pattern that represents all possible shift positions and two or more additional but limited shift patterns corresponding to certain gears which limit the gears selectable and enagageable by the vehicle operator . two or more actuators which may be solenoids or other electric , hydraulic or pneumatic actuators translate blocking pins or plungers into the additional or limited shift patterns to lockout or block motion of the shift lever and shift gate cylinder into certain gears . engine speed and temperature sensors , a vehicle speed sensor and a current gear sensor provide data which is utilized to compute which gears , under current sensed operating conditions , should be locked out , that is , unavailable for selection by the vehicle operator .