A dog leg gearbox is a manual transmission

Manual transmission

A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications...

 layout with an up-over-up shift between first and second gear. The layout derives its name from a dog's hind leg, with its sharp angles.

Dog leg 5-speed layout	Typical 5-speed layout

Automobiles

Dog leg layout gearboxes are desirable on performance automobiles because in road racing more frequent shifting occurs from second to third than from first to second gear.

Examples of cars that utilized this pattern for performance reasons include the BMW M535, Early 635CSi (Non-US) and (Non-US) M3 E30, BMW 2002 Tii and Turbo, Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 and 2.5-16, Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS, Ferrari Testarossa

Ferrari Testarossa

The Ferrari Testarossa is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer...

, Porsche 914

Porsche 914

The Porsche 914 or VW-Porsche 914 is a mid-engined, targa-topped two-seat roadster designed, manufactured and marketed collaboratively by Volkswagen and Porsche from 1969 to 1976.- Development :...

, early 911

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998...

, 924 Turbo

Porsche 924

The Porsche 924 is an automobile produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. A two-door, 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. In production terms, the 924 was the first Porsche model powered by a...

 (all featuring Getrag

Getrag

Getrag is a leading manufacturer of automobile manual transmissions. The company was founded on 1 May 1935, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, by Hermann Hagenmeyer; as the Getriebe und Zahnradfabrik Hermann Hagenmeyer GmbH & Cie KG...

 gearboxes), Cosworth Vega, Porsche 928

Porsche 928

The Porsche 928 was a sports-GT car sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 attempted to combine the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort, and equipment of a luxury sedan to create what some...

, Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, Vauxhall Firenza

Vauxhall Firenza

The Firenza is a model of car offered by Vauxhall Motors from May 1971 till 1975. It was a development of the Viva, but had a distinctive coupé body style and only two doors....

 HPF the Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini Miura

The Lamborghini Miura was a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1972. The car is widely considered to have begun the trend of high performance, two-seater, mid-engined sports cars...

, the Maserati Biturbo and the De Tomaso Pantera

De Tomaso Pantera

The Pantera was a sports car produced by the De Tomaso car company of Italy from 1971 to 1991, the last one being delivered to a customer in 1992.The word "Pantera" is Italian for "Panther".-History:...

.

Despite the performance benefits, non-performance oriented cars available with the dog leg shift pattern were produced. Examples include the Subaru 360

Subaru 360

The Subaru 360 was the first automobile mass-produced by Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru division. A number of innovative features were used to design a very small and inexpensive car to address government plans to produce a small "people's car" with an engine no larger than 360 cc when most in...

, Datsun 160J Hardtop SSS, 78-80 Datsun 200sx, 1980 Datsun 210 Wagon (built during the 210/310 crossover), 78-80 Datsun 510, Citroën 2CV

Citroën 2CV

The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...

, Mercedes 190, Mercedes-Benz 200D

Mercedes-Benz W123

W123 is the internal chassis-designation Mercedes-Benz used for their executive line of cars, manufactured between 1976 and 1985.The W123 models surpassed their predecessor, the W114 and W115 models, as the most successful Mercedes, selling 2.7 million cars before replacement by the W124 after 1985...

 and the 1976-77 Oldsmobile Cutlass

Oldsmobile Cutlass

The Oldsmobile Cutlass is a line of automobiles made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Cutlass began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greatest success as a body-on-frame intermediate car....

 or Pontiac LeMans

Pontiac LeMans

The Pontiac LeMans was a model name applied to compact and intermediate-sized automobiles offered by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1962 to 1981. The LeMans was replaced by the downsized Pontiac Bonneville for the 1982 model year...

 with the 260 V8, the 76-77 Chevrolet Vega

Chevrolet Vega

The Chevrolet Vega is a subcompact, two-door automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971-1977 model years. Named after the star Vega, the car was powered by a lightweight aluminum-block inline four-cylinder engine...

 or Pontiac Astre

Pontiac Astre

The Pontiac Astre is a subcompact automobile that was produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. Essentially a rebadged Chevrolet Vega, it was introduced in Canada for the 1973 model year and sold there exclusively through 1974. It debuted in the U.S...

, 76-79 Chevrolet Monza

Chevrolet Monza

The Chevrolet Monza is a subcompact, four-passenger automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1975–1980 model years. The Monza is based on the Chevrolet Vega, sharing its wheelbase, width and 140 CID inline-4 engine...

 or Buick Skyhawk

Buick Skyhawk

The Buick Skyhawk are automobiles produced by the Buick division of General Motors in two generations for the 1975 through 1989 model years. 1975 through 1980 models, all 2-door hatchbacks, were built on the subcompact, rear-wheel drive H-body platform...

 or Oldsmobile Starfire

Oldsmobile Starfire

Oldsmobile Starfire are automobiles produced by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors in two generations from 1961–1966 and 1975–1980. The Starfire nameplate was also used for the 1954–1956 Ninety- Eight series convertibles, and all 1957 Ninety-Eight series models. 1961 was the first year for...

, and the 77-79 Pontiac Sunbird

Pontiac Sunbird

The Pontiac Sunbird, produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors, was Pontiac's second small-car offering of the 70's. The Sunbird model ran for 18 years and was then replaced in 1995 by the Pontiac Sunfire...

.

Trucks

Many light trucks have dog-leg 5 or 6 speed transmissions, due to the fact that second gear is fine for taking off normally, first is considered a crawler gear in these trucks and is only ever used for taking off with heavy loads and/or a trailer, or going down very steep grades.

The dog leg gearbox is also typical of 9 and 10 speed heavy truck transmissions. In the case of a 10 speed transmission, the gears are 1-5 in the low range and 6-10 in the high range (the 1 position is not used in the high range of a 9 speed transmission).