This is one of the more unusual finds at the Cohort, posted by Joseph Dennis. It appears to be a battered survivor of the USSC Pro Rally circuit, which ran from 1973 to 2004. The Opel Manta was a popular machine for rally work on both sides of the Atlantic, but one Don’t exactly expect to see one sitting on the streets of Flint, MI. And given how rusty the sills are, I rather hope no one is still taking it out competitively, although looks can be deceiving.
Here’s one, in a bit better shape than number 3. Actually, it was the Manta B that really put it on the map, racing-wise, but the A got it off to a good start.
If this Opel could talk, it would have some war stories to tell. As it is, its sheet metal is doing a pretty good job of it.
More: CC 1975 Opel Manta 3100 (V6 Engine Swap) – The German Camaro
The Manta was one of the sleekest Opel designs ever. it shares the price with the GT. This Manta is proof that the truly beautiful cannot be disfigured.
I’ve always found the Opel Manta more attractive than the Kadett.
Living literally 5 miles from Flint, I am going to keep this on my radar.
Very cool- I would drive that. There’s no way it would pass an SCCA tech inspection though. I wonder if the owner ice races it.
There is an active Opel club here in Southeast Wisconsin. Some pretty interesting cars come out when they get together.
Really nice to see such Opels in the US !
The fastest Manta A was the TE2800, built by Transeurope Engineering from Belgium.
More here (in English): http://www.te2800-register.be/en
I owned a ’74 Opel Manta Rallye from ’78 until the early ’90’s. Might have been the best, and most enjoyable, car I ever had. Took a heck of a beating, as I drove it thru college. A nice one would be tempting
The Manta became a genre of German humor.
E.g. ”What was left after a fatal Manta accident? — A golden chain and a mourning hair dresser.”
How can you recognize a Manta driver ?
Dead insects on his left elbow.
I really liked the looks of the Manta. Nice combination of sleek outside and plush inside. Tried one on for size at the Detroit auto show one year: lack of headroom rendered it impossible, I mean my head was hard against the roof. After that, I laffed at the commercials I saw for it as the drivers shown had to have been midgets.
After that you must run to the Buick Dealer and ask for an Opel, no doubt.
The wagon must have been an Opel Ascona Caravan.
You can still buy an Opel at a Buick dealer… kinda.
Saturn took over for awhile as GM’s Opel conduit. A car’s pedigree isn’t always obvious anymore unless you play the Private Eye.
Does that car have a 2.8 liter V6 turbo engine ? It looks like the equivalent of the Opel Insignia OPC. (OPC to Opel is what AMG is to Mercedes)
Of all the GM car makers Opel could’ve hooked up, why Buick? Why not Chevrolet, maybe Pontiac?
The Opel Insignia OPC, to get the picture.
Love that promotional film!! Great music and graphics.
I’ve never driven or ridden in an Opel Manta.
I’ve never seen a Manta A in competition, but the Manta B was a serious piece of kit and very competitive in Rallies.
The Manta is a nice looking car. If I remember correctly, the Manta and the Manta driver seem to have developed a stereotype in Germany akin to the stereotype that the 2nd/3rd generation of Camero and its drivers get in the USA.
A 1972 Manta with 27,000 miles for $5,000 is listed here: http://www.opelgt.com/ppc/showproduct.php?product=5553
The Manta was a cool looking car. Never drove one, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one that wasn’t rusted.
It got buthchered by GMH for our market and came out as the Torana and 4 banger Sunbird only in fordoor.
My Father bought a new 1971 Opel “1900” 2 door coupe, dealer add on A/C and no radio, to drive to and from his 30 mile round trip for work. As he parked on the narrow, crowded streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter, he needed a short & nimble, easy to parallel park car (Most small cars did NOT have power steering 40 years ago!).
The “baby blue” Opel had a gorgeous darker blue vinyl interior that would do quality to an Audi today. The smooth shifting 4 speed manual, the 4 cylinder engine that whirrrrrrred and never shook (unlike the same year Vega and Pinto), high off the ground seats (again unlike the same year Vega and Pinto) and tall windows made it seem like “a poor man’s BMW 2002”.
My Mother was so enamored with the easy driving, classy looking car that she forced my Father out of it about a year later!
Four years later I purchased a 1975 Opel Manta, with a hand crank sunroof, (again) dealer installed A/C, a much plainer looking (but still comfortable) interior, 4 speed and the one year only Bosch fuel-injected engine. The fuel injection gave slightly more power, a LOT more balanced torque curve and made an already damn fine car into quite the sporty rocket, for the time period.
My Godfather purchased my Opel, as he was a WWII and Korea Veteran and despised anything from Japan, and reveled in it’s Teutonic nature, calling it the last car he would ever buy, his “Forever Car”. My brother totaled it out a few years later.
That Opel was one of the cars that I WISH I could buy back, in the condition that I sold it for, at the price I sold it for!
I like the Opel Manta and the Opel GT.
Always thought it odd as a child of the 60s, in that WWII vets and rodders wouldn’t consider Japanese gear, but thought Nazi and Wermacht stuff was boss, esp bikers…
Pop commuted in a Kaydett wagon and loved it til he rolled it over.
In 1981 I was looking to replace my MGB-GT, and the two cars for final looks were an Olds Starfire 1975 with a stick, and a ’73 Manta the same. The Opel engine sounded like a coffee can of gravel so Olds it was… since then I’ve heard the motor was the weak link.
But I always dug Tom Tjaarda’s stylings!
I had a new 1971 Opel 1900 Sport Coupe – the Manta’s exact predecessor under a different name. I did not like the car. I didn’t like the way the shift lever buzzed at any speed over 40 mph. I taped a heavy piece of barstock to it; that helped a little. I didn’t like the half-assed carburetor that meant when I was maneuvering in a parking lot there was almost no throttle response until a sudden burst of speed happened. I didn’t like the whitewall bias-ply tires it came with, and replaced them with Michelins in the first month. I didn’t like the way the carpet started coming out from under the sill plate in the first six months. I didn’t like the local Buick dealer’s attitude, which was approximately “Thanks – now get this piece of crap off my lot.” To sum up, I thought of it as a German Vega.
There were two things I liked about it. First, the handling. Second, the lights were wired so that the left taillight and right marker lights were on one circuit and the right taillight and left marker lights on another, so I never had to worry about driving down the road at night with no taillights, a problem that seemed common to other GM cars at the time.
Maybe I was just unlucky. It certainly seems that a lot of people like these cars. It’s a mystery to me….
(edit) Oh, and another thing. You may wonder what I traded in on the Opel…it was a 1967 Barracuda 383 4-speed fastback.
Very attractive car, and I’d love to hear the back story on it! While the “survivor” condition has an appeal all its own, I do hope the owner does something about the rust so that it can live to see the road for years to come…it deserves better than to die a slow death from rust after the action it saw on the track.
It’s not rust, it’s special lightweight competition oxidized steel!
Really cool find… wonder what the history is here. Looks like it was probably still racing well into the ’90s given some of the graphics.
Beautiful white Manta sitting neglected in a yard next to my school…
I’ve been beating on that opel in the picture for the last 30 years. The Manta is the toughest car I’ve ever owned. At this point and its life the roll cage holds it together, it’s like a bridge from the front bumper to the back. I even cut the subframe out on one side to give the exhaust system more clearance. Number 3 still runs great I was beating on it this last weekend 12 2017. Mike
Well it’s now 2020 and I am still beating on the red Manta. It likes water but this puddle was a little bit deep.
The photo did not go though on my last post