I had a 73' Opal GT with the same motor. It felt like you were flying down the road and cornered like a go-cart. Absolutly the funnest car I ever owned. If I could find one that wasn't a pile of rust or a pile of money I would buy it today!
My parents bought a new manta luxus in ‘73. Burgundy with cloth seats and automatic. Drove it cross country with no AC lol. They kept it for about 7 or 8 years. Good car in its day.
Between 1970 to 75,, I used to live by GM office in Stag Lane London,,and used to luv watching these after school along with Opel Commodore,Diplomat and more,,,,great days,,,nice vid
Had a 74' maroon, on maroon , put 205 60 13s, a webber carb, over gapped plugs,and points ran premium fuel, would take almost a week to burn a tank of gas, when gas a dollar a gallon. Wish I still had that car today.
I had a brand new 1972 Opel Rallye and I could do 70 in 3rd gear and in 4th I could hit 115 mph in the middle of nowhere back then. I thought it was really fast even after I drove a 1959 customized Impala with an LT1 350 corvette engine rated at 425 hp. That new blueprinted motor cost me $2000 back in 1971! Lots of fun though.
My family had 4 Opels , 3 of them Mantas. Fun to drive and tough too . My grandfather put over 250k on his , and my mom's saw 4 teenage boys behind it's wheel taking all the abuse that entails . Today they are worth real money especially in Germany .
Making it handle tighter, and go faster can all be addressed. Mine was bored 60 over, with a 292° cam with .450 lift, rated to 125HP. Suspension got KYB shocks, 205 50 13 tires and 6" wide Enkei wheels. She was got larger front and rear Addco sway bars. She was an absolute monster.
The time I saw an Opel Manta in person, it was a race car towed to an autocross. It built to a set of rules, so still had the original type of little engine. It was super light, and watching from the outside you couldn't tell the engine was so small. :)
My second car was a 1974 1900 manual 4 speed (base) in 1985, later on I had the Rallye also manual in 1997. Now have Maroon Luxus in Very Clean cond. Also got the Sport Wagon (essentially same car, but two door wagon). Both are getting Rover 4.6 V-8, Wagon will be Borg-Warner 5 speed, Luxus Auto Overdrive from 1991 V-6 Camaro, both with larger vented front, and rear disc from Isuzu Impulse. Lowered, Koni's, 15 inch wheels.
At the time the Manta Luxus was in the showrooms they were like a German version of the Camaro LT but a very cool looking car. That’s when a car was affordable back in the day plus I thought that body style was cool, after all look at how many times you saw Opels on Let’s Make a Deal during the seventies
Owned a 71 Opel Manta in the 80s. Fun car to drive and really loved the design of this car.
I had a 73' Opal GT with the same motor. It felt like you were flying down the road and cornered like a go-cart. Absolutly the funnest car I ever owned. If I could find one that wasn't a pile of rust or a pile of money I would buy it today!
My parents bought a new manta luxus in ‘73. Burgundy with cloth seats and automatic. Drove it cross country with no AC lol. They kept it for about 7 or 8 years. Good car in its day.
Same taillights as my Mom's Opel GT. That was a fun little car, even though it wasn't very fast.
Between 1970 to 75,, I used to live by GM office in Stag Lane London,,and used to luv watching these after school along with Opel Commodore,Diplomat and more,,,,great days,,,nice vid
They dubbed the road course sound better on this video than others, where the Jaguar sounded like a top fuel dragster.
Had a 74' maroon, on maroon , put 205 60 13s, a webber carb, over gapped plugs,and points ran premium fuel, would take almost a week to burn a tank of gas, when gas a dollar a gallon. Wish I still had that car today.
I had a brand new 1972 Opel Rallye and I could do 70 in 3rd gear and in 4th I could hit 115 mph in the middle of nowhere back then. I thought it was really fast even after I drove a 1959 customized Impala with an LT1 350 corvette engine rated at 425 hp. That new blueprinted motor cost me $2000 back in 1971! Lots of fun though.
My family had 4 Opels , 3 of them Mantas. Fun to drive and tough too . My grandfather put over 250k on his , and my mom's saw 4 teenage boys behind it's wheel taking all the abuse that entails . Today they are worth real money especially in Germany .
This thing is slower than a cruise ship , but pretty neat looking
Making it handle tighter, and go faster can all be addressed. Mine was bored 60 over, with a 292° cam with .450 lift, rated to 125HP. Suspension got KYB shocks, 205 50 13 tires and 6" wide Enkei wheels. She was got larger front and rear Addco sway bars. She was an absolute monster.
The Opel Manta was never classified as a "mini car" by anyone. ..with the exception of Bud Lindemann. Around
If only GM would've adapted this instead of foisting on us the Vega. I rode in one of these! ca. 1973. Friend's older brother owned it.
The music in this episode was extra-hilarious!
The time I saw an Opel Manta in person, it was a race car towed to an autocross. It built to a set of rules, so still had the original type of little engine. It was super light, and watching from the outside you couldn't tell the engine was so small. :)
I have NEVER seen one of these at a car show or cars and coffee! Surprised none of these survived, crazy!
100% best car i ever owned, well this and my Opel GT both great cars
My second car was a 1974 1900 manual 4 speed (base) in 1985, later on I had the Rallye also manual in 1997. Now have Maroon Luxus in Very Clean cond. Also got the Sport Wagon (essentially same car, but two door wagon). Both are getting Rover 4.6 V-8, Wagon will be Borg-Warner 5 speed, Luxus Auto Overdrive from 1991 V-6 Camaro, both with larger vented front, and rear disc from Isuzu Impulse. Lowered, Koni's, 15 inch wheels.
At the time the Manta Luxus was in the showrooms they were like a German version of the Camaro LT but a very cool looking car. That’s when a car was affordable back in the day plus I thought that body style was cool, after all look at how many times you saw Opels on Let’s Make a Deal during the seventies
Interesting styling with the front-hinged bonnet and rear tail lights that were similar to the contemporary Mazda RX-2.