The title phrase, which sounds like the beginning of a joke, immediately popped into my mind when I came across this sight. With some cars I might attempt to flesh out the joke, but these cars are just too appealing to make fun of.
Opels were not uncommon sights in the United States of the 1970’s. As GM’s European import sold through Buick dealers, Opel was both a little exotic and Middle-American-Normal all at the same time.
But currency fluctuations wreaked havoc on lower priced German cars in the late ’70s and the German Opel was soon replaced by the Japanese Opel, which was in turn replaced by no Opel at all. Or Opels cleverly disguised as Saturns and Buicks perhaps? Given this history, how cool is this sighting?
When is the last time any of our American readers saw one vintage German Opel in a gas station, let alone two of them. You can imagine my surprise when Mrs. JPC and I were stopped for a restroom break somewhere in Illinois on our way to Madison Wisconsin for a weekend visit with one of our kids in the summer of 2017. Of course, I had to get over there for a closer look.
As you might guess these owners knew each other (they may well have been married, I was not keeping notes) and were on their way to an Opel meet nearby. They kindly allowed me to take some pictures as they gassed up.
The Opel GT was the first in Opel’s 1-2 punch of German grand tourers that were both attractive and reasonably priced. It is hard not to see the Corvette influence in this car. Moving a styling theme to a smaller car is often a very effective way to botch things, but General Motors of the Bill Mitchell era could still pull it off, and quite nicely.
The closest I ever got to one was a blue one that belonged to some neighbors of a cousin I visited. It was a little worn by the late 1970s but still carried a bit of mystique for me.
The Opel Manta was an attractive sports coupe (in a Mini-Camaro kind of way). Actually it is the car most Vega buyers should have chosen as their lifespans overlapped almost exactly. Or, for that matter, the kind of car the Vega should have been.
With Opel being part of General Motors it should not be surprising that the Manta was not as outright Teutonic as cars from VW or BMW. It was, however, a mixture of some of the better traits of American and German cars rolled into one attractive package. Really, wouldn’t the Manta’s lines have worked really well as a convertible?
Neither the Manta nor the GT was able to transition itself into the more rarefied price class in the way that BMW did with the 320 in the late 1970s. In fact, the Manta developed a reputation in Germany as a bit of a low-class car, an image that it was fortunate to avoid in the U.S. It is interesting to contemplate whether Opel could have survived in the American market by trading on its German heritage as a way to justify the prices brought on by inconvenient exchange rates.
Perhaps not as the car was always conceived as a product for the lower tiers of the market. I suppose the recent Buick Cascada proves the point in modern times, though both the Manta and the GT were more appealing cars at the start.
Enough of the wouldda-couldda-shouldda that we old car nuts like to engage in. Let us instead just bask in the rare treat of these two cars stopping in for some liquid refreshment. At least these are not hard drinkers like the two overweight Americans I saw at another filling station.
Whenever I see an old car I ask myself if it is something I would adopt and take home if given the opportunity. The answer here – a yes, even though this is not the kind of car I normally gravitate towards. Really, I would have a hard time if I had to choose just one. Fortunately, these folks do not have to make that decision.
Further Reading:
1975 Opel Manta (Paul Niedermeyer)
1968-73 Opel GT (Automotive History by Geelongvic
Opel GT Vintage Review (Paul Niedermeyer)
Opel GT Triple Treat (Perry Shoar)
Great find! The colors and wheels really compliment the styles of each, and they look better than new. This Manta puts off a BMW 635 vibe to me.
Wow — it must have been tempting to tag along to the Opel meet!
I love Mantas, and the last time I saw one was… at a gas station (pic below). OK, it was parked at a gas station, presumably waiting to be serviced or inspected, but still, the tie-in here was too tempting to ignore. I’ve this particular Manta driving around occasionally; it’s always a delight to see.
Since you mentioned the Manta being a mixture of the better traits of American and German cars, I think that’s the reason for it’s appeal to me. It somehow struck that balance just right.
Wow – wheels, paint color and bumpers really change the Manta’s personality. The big bumpers on the later car may have been one of the better early efforts to meet that 5 mph standard. The wheels on the orange car look kind of small.
Yes, an enormous change. Like TheMann mentions above, your silver car with BMW-ish wheels definitely gives off a 635 vibe. The orange/red example I found… well, not so much.
I like ’em both, though.
GM stylist Clare MacKichan absolutely nailed the styling of the Opel GT. I also appreciate the brand identity afforded both cars with their round taillamps. Very appealing duo.
I remember when i was a teen just getting totally into cars(i would go to the dealers and get the brochure on the new cars) in 74 i remember seeing and add for the Manta and though that name was cool…Opel Manta Luxus! great find 2 beautiful cars!!
Good find! I still see the occasional Opel GT, once or twice a year, but I think it’s been over a decade since I’ve seen a Manta. Longer since I’ve seen a 1900 (Ascona). As for describing the Manta as the car Vega owners should have chosen, in 1976 when I bought my ‘73 Vega GT, the Vega resale value made it a much cheaper buy than a used Manta Rallye let alone a fuel-injected 1975 Manta. I did drive one of the latter and it was very nice.
I remember that the strippo sedans were available stateside with the 1.1-liter engine, but I had no idea you could buy a GT with the 1100 in the US! Did anyone actually buy one, or did it exist strictly to advertise a lowball price?
Nice find! Opels are certainly unusual to see, even in classic car gatherings. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one. I do distinctly remember in the late 70’s when I was elementary age that someone in a house nearby ours had an Opel GT. It notable enough that even at that young age I still remember it, but it seems to me that those were not an uncommon site back then. I knew it was an Opel and I had seen them around before.
Being a car guy makes every trip a potential adventure, because you never know when you will stumble on a find like this! It’s a great hobby and I feel bad for people who are indifferent to cars. It would make traveling so much more boring.
To my eyes, the Manta wears a very expensive-looking suit, and a very desireable one. Perhaps Chuck Jordan, Opel design chief then, was an admirer of BMW’s New Class and descendants, because it could be mistaken for a very close cousin. It’s sweet enough that I’d even go as far as to say it is arguably the cuter cousin too.
But in this case from Somewhere, in Illinois, I would dispense with the battering rams either end for full prettiness.
BMW New Class? As in all rectangular and boxy and a tall green house? The Manta is essentially the antithesis of the New Class to my eyes. Here’s what BMW was peddling at the time of the Manta.
Which got it’s inspiration from the Corvair!!
The 1602/2002 is boxy.
But the 2800 CS had some curve to it.
Personally, I think the BMW 6-cylinder coupes of that era were ugly. But perhaps the Manta is evocative of them…in a good way.
I always thought Mantas were good-looking cars—much nicer than Capris.
The Ascona/1900 2-dr sedan also looks good–THAT is evocative of a 2002, a little less stern-looking, IMO.
2002 also looks good.
I’d be very happy to have any of those three cars.
You’re missing my main point: Chuck Jordan was an American GM stylist who was sent to Opel in 1967 to upgrade their designs and make them less boxy, boring and dull. He certainly didn’t need to look at BMW to find his inspiration. They came from the Camaros, Toronados, Corvettes and 1965 Corvairs and all the GM concept cars that he had been so familiar with.
Was he aware of what BMW was doing? Undoubtedly. He had to create Opels to succeed in the German market and the rest of Europe. But I don’t see any actual inspiration from BMW in the Manta.
The BMW E3 coupe had a bit of curve in its C Pillar, but otherwise was just as boxy as the other New Class cars. its sides were flat, and it had that stick-out horizontal Corvair line that clearly delineated the lower body from the greenhouse. Jordan’s Manta is in a whole different league, with smooth and rounded sides and a very curved C pillar which wrapped around to the rear window and was swept into the rear deck and was very much integrated into the lower body. These were advanced ideas that had been used on the ’66 Toronado and some other GM cars.
The E3 is a fine car, but it was essentially styled in 1962, and it really shows, The Manta is vastly more modern and forward looking.
Yeah, my expression was woolly. I meant there was the 1500, the E3 (sharknose and not), then 6 series – which this Manta photographed by JPC resembles – as being my “descendants” of the New Class. TheMann at top says it simpler and better than I did.
But now I don’t agree about the Manta being unrelated stylistically. Yes, it’s a bit fuselagey but it does indeed have the Corvair horizontal line, softened. It has the eyebrowed forward leaning 4-light front, and the C-pillar is like a broadened version of the E3. Considering the way these ideas are better refined than on the BM explains why it’s a prettier car (to me).
On further thought, it’s more the Glas/BMW GT that’s like the in-between point of these two cars, or at least, part of what’s in the mix (esp at back).
What I see is the Giugiaro influence, especially the (1969) Mazda R130 and (1967) Fiat Dino coupes he did at Bertone.
Given Jordan’s assignment I guess that’s not surprising.
About a month ago I was taking the long and slow route from the post office to downtown when I passed a garage advertised as a big rig repair shop and outside was a twin to the yellow GT pictured here. Passing by this same location every week to 10 days afterwards I see that appealing little car still parked there, though it does apparently move between my “visits”.
In the 80s a friend had a yellow 75 Manta that I really liked, and he really wanted my 80 Fiesta. Unfortunately, the Manta was in his wife’s name and she didn’t care for my (cheap looking) little red hatchback.
There is a yellow Manta that has been hiding in a carport about ten blocks from my house since forever, gathering dust and storage boxes sitting on it. It was one of the first cars I shot when I started CC’ing over at the other site. And it’s still there. Unfortunately it’s an automatic, or I’d have been tempted to knock on their door.
Two very nice Opels your found there. Good to see them in loving hands.
I tried on a Manta at the Detroit show years ago. Impossible lack of headroom. After trying it on, I started noticing the Manta ad on TV. The guy they showed driving it might have been Ron Carey, who later starred on “Barney Miller”. In the ad the guy had oodles of headroom. Carey was about 5’5′
Elevating the Opel brand into a German status symbol was probably a nonstarter at Buick. Can’t have a captive import start bumping into the price range of an Apollo or Century.
These two GTs showed up at the Gilmore’s German show a couple years ago.
We only got the Opel GT in Canada, the Manta would have a nice model too sell alongside it at Pontiac-Buick dealerships. The Manta has very fluid styling and as someone above said a good combination of American and European design.
“We only got the Opel GT in Canada, the Manta would have a nice model too sell alongside it at Pontiac-Buick dealerships.”
Was it routine for Pontiac to be dualed with Buick in Canada? Did they carry the Opel 1900 series sedans and wagons?
“Was it routine for Pontiac to be dualed with Buick in Canada?”
Yes. From what I understand, Canadian GM dealers were historically almost always part of one of exactly two network arrangements: Chevrolet-Oldsmobile and Pontiac-Buick-GMC. Cadillacs could be sold by dealers in either network on as as-needed basis where warranted by local demand.
That Pontiac and Buick shared a network apparently explains why Opels weren’t historically sold in Canada. Around the same time GM began selling Opels through U.S. Buick dealers in the late ’50s, they also began selling Vauxhalls through U.S. Pontiac dealers. GM Canada apparently 1) felt that it didn’t make sense to sell both through the same dealer network, and 2) opted for Vauxhall due to greater tariff treatment and cultural preference for British products in Canada at the time. Canadian Pontiac dealers continued to sell Vauxhall products into the early ’70s, when they were replaced by the domestic Pontiac Astre.
In the U.S., Opel and Vauxhall both faded into irrelevance once the 1958-60 import boom ended, and were both withdrawn from the U.S. market around 1963. After a one-year absence from the U.S. market in 1963, Opel returned, but Vauxhall never did. This resulted in a strange situation where GM sold Vauxhalls in Canada but not Opels, and sold Opels in the U.S. but not Vauxhalls.
I assume the GT was sold in Canada because it was such a unique vehicle, that didn’t compete with anything Vauxhall made. IINM, a wider range of Opels were sold in Canada for a few years in the 1970s, after GM Canada had stopped importing Vauxhalls.
Canadian Pontiac dealers continued to sell Vauxhall products into the early ’70s, when they were replaced by the domestic Pontiac Astre.
Thanks for the clarification. I suspected that the Astre would have influenced what other compacts would be offered in the same showroom, while, Buick dealers were typically not dualed with Pontiac in the US, leaving an opening at the bottom of their range for something like an Opel.
I’m not getting an edit button, but two clarifications on items that I could have worded better:
“After 1963, Opel returned, but Vauxhall didn’t”
After a one-year absence from the U.S. market in 1963, Opel returned, but Vauxhall never did.
“IINM, Opels were sold in Canada for a few years in the 1970s after GM Canada had stopped importing Vauxhalls.”
IINM, a wider range of Opels were sold in Canada for a few years in the 1970s, after GM Canada had stopped importing Vauxhalls.
I owned a yellow ’70 Opel GT when I was a teenager (from 1976-78). It was a blast to drive, but very finicky mechanically. I remember having to fool around with the carburetor and tuning it up constantly. But, when it did run, it was pretty fast and handled nicely.
My Dad had a yellow ’70 GT. Sadly, it went off to the crusher long before I got my driver’s license. Most of my rides were in the back “seat.” Yes, Dad managed to cram three young kids into the back of a two-seat Opel GT, perched on the package shelf. Seat belts? Child seats? What are those?
I talked to a guy with an Opel GT at a local car show recently. He said replacing the Solex carb with a Weber is a common upgrade.
He also said if you ever crack the windshield you might as well get rid of the car, because at this point in time a replacement windshield costs more than the rest of the car combined.
I sat in the back “seat” of my dad’s GT with my brother. I guess we had it better than you because there were just two of us. And I thought my experience was unique–not so!
I loved polishing the dual chrome tail pipes!
Both of these Opel’s DO exhibit that GM design, under Mitchell, was very sophisticated visually for the technology of the time. They still look great now just as they did when new. Even the “battering ram” bumpers do not detract to much from the clean design of the Manta.
Very nice to see pictures of these as I cannot remember the last time I saw either one of them here in the Mid West…. 🙁 DFO
Many people comment here about the well integrated 5 mph bumpers of the late model Manta .Chief Designer Camilo Pardo of the Ford GT explain very well at 26:40 on Jayleno garage of the may 12 why a floating bumpers got good integration .
Nice find, when I was a newly minted driver, a Manta of all things was near the top of what I wanted to drive. Never got one, never even drove one, but still carry the torch a bit…someday maybe. I’ve never seen one with those wheels, if I had to guess I’d say they actually are off a BMW. But the look works.
Conversely I think I’m one of the few people for whom the GT never did anything, I just don’t find it at all attractive, just sort of lumpy and odd. But that’s ok too.
You’re not alone on the GT. To me, it looks a bit cartoonish, sort of like a cheap kit-car knock-off of a Corvette.
But the Manta is alright, particularly the last ones that (I think) got fuel injection. Unfortunately, IIRC, they also got an insurmountable bump in price, too, thanks to the Deutsch Mark exchange rate, which effectively stopped all further importation. GM knew that Opel didn’t have anywhere near the cache to sell at the same price point as BMW (the El Cheapo Open Kadette was still a very recent, fresh memory), and that’s where the Manta was now priced.
I’ve seen a couple of Opel gts around. Someone around here also has an orange ascona wagon and a 1984 Opel senator, supposedly the only one in the country.
I strongly disagree with the comment that Mantas suffered from a lack of headroom. Simply not true. I’m 6 feet and had no lack of headroom in our Manta or our 1900 Sportwagon. Even had plenty of headroom in both the front and back seats of a friends 1900 coupe. The best model year was the 1975’s which had Bosch electronic fuel injection.. An interesting aside is that GM used the four speed transmission from these Opels in the Chevy Vega.
Agreed. My late friend Tim had a ’72 Manta way back when and I rode in it many time with no head room issues (I’m 6’3″).
I had a Manta for a few years as a daily driver. Superb handling, it was a pretty decent car for a freebie. Opel yellow as all Opels of that vintage should be the 1.9 was not as impressive as the non smog versions. Weber carb is a must with these. As for the GT 1.1 very few were imported into the U.S.. They had the RS version of the engine which gave you dual carbs, hotter cam, and 9.5:1 compression. No barnburner at a bit over 60 Hp but combined with a decent handling chassis equaled a load of fun. My current daily driver is a 1.1R sedan. It is very willing and loves to rev, but only 8.5:1 compression for an advertised 60 Hp. Not sure which cam it has. They had to be a real blast if any made it with the solid lifter 1.9. My 69 wagon with that motor was no slouch in the mid 80’s. 70 brought the hydraulic lifter 1.9 motors and they seem to be a bit less eager to run. Still a beautiful car though.
I love the ad copy in this brochure:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147108383@N02/26806476218/in/album-72157694315498751/
I was all of 7 or 8 when the Manta was introduced and I thought back then they were gorgeous cars, and at 56 I still am enamored with them. Love Opel GT’s too.
My first car out of college in 1978 was a 1973 Manta Luxus. I kept it less than a year as I discovered collision damage to the suspension… when driven hard (as I should have on the test drive) it showed up clearly. Traded it for a 1974 1900 Sportwagon that had only 24,000 miles. I ran that one up to 150,000 plus. The car had modest power but great handling for the era, and the two-door wagon body style was perfect for that time of my life. As it was slowly dying I came across a 1975 wagon (fuel injected for a whopping 6 more bhp!). The transmission on the ’75 was in bad shape, so I swapped in the one from the ’74, putting a new clutch in while it was apart. Sadly, that car deteriorated more quickly. Overall, count me as being very fond of the Manta/1900.