RE: Spotted: Opel Manta i200/i400

RE: Spotted: Opel Manta i200/i400

Thursday 26th April 2012

Spotted: Opel Manta i200/i400

Mad retro rally look Manta looks like a world of wide-arched fun



There's been a sense that, for some reason, the broad church of PistonHeads doesn't welcome tuned or modified cars. Certainly discussion of The Ronin's 'world's fastest Lotus', the 'rat rod' BMW 2002 and that slammed RS look 964 Carrera has been brisk, opinionated and, at times, somewhat heated. And not just in the editorial!

Is it as original? Probably not...
Is it as original? Probably not...
Passions run high enough with regular cars but when it's one person's vision and taste (or, just maybe, lack of it) expressed in four-wheeled form you can ramp the opinion factor up by a factor of ten.

Why this disclaimer? Well, without further digging we don't actually know much about the history of this wide-arched Opel Manta i400/i200 (ostensibly a Group B i200 wearing i400 body enhancements) and it's clear enough that it's been, for want of a better description, modded. And not, it would appear, in a way that's totally authentic to the car's vintage. For a taste of a more original i200 there's always this instead, a useful page on the background to the car here on the Opel Manta owners' club site.

How much fun does this look? Lots...
How much fun does this look? Lots...
Now this may well upset a few purists and, yes, we've been known to wear that T-shirt on occasion. But, basically, it's a case of pointing and staring and saying "wow, that looks cool and a whole load of fun." Which is why we thought we'd share it with you. Forgive us our trespasses and all that but, authentic or not, there's clearly a lot of mechanical love been lavished on this car and the end result just looks like it'd be a right hoot to drive.

See the original advert here. No tech info supplied but there's a detailed build spec in the ad.

 

Author
Discussion

Skater12

Original Poster:

507 posts

158 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Oooooooooh, me likey !

( sorry, should I write something more constructive? )

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

168 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Nope, that's about where we were with it!

Skater12

Original Poster:

507 posts

158 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Not as the designer intended, and a little "blingy", but i'd still happily own it.




MantaMike

424 posts

251 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
So cool. And yes, it would be fun!

task

418 posts

171 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
There's a lot of "want" right there!

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
task said:
There's a lot of "wk" right there!
That's better.

scholesy

143 posts

162 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
it's ok, leaves me feeling a bit "meh". If it was cheaper I would probably get more excited, suppose it's like all these madly expensive old fords I see floating around.

Devil2575

13,400 posts

188 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
like it.

Get rid of the race interior and fit a tuned Rover V8 and it would be perfect.

sinbaddio

2,371 posts

176 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Wow, that looks immense!

Guvernator

13,152 posts

165 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?

cragswinter

21,429 posts

196 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
This was in the "what car have you been obsessing....." thread last year when it was up for sale on the bay.

Iirc a PH'r wanted to buy it but I don't know what came of that. Looks lovely smile

s m

23,223 posts

203 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Looks well done - reminds me of the old Courtenay ones

s m

23,223 posts

203 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Guvernator said:
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?
Nova SR smile

Roman

2,031 posts

219 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Fantastic. An I240, 300 or 400 are special but I can't see a problem with upgrading an I200 - it's little different to a GTE and this uses an Opel engine.

Excellent work and one of my all time favourite rally cars, I wonder if this turbocharged car sounds as good as an original N/A 400?

cragswinter

21,429 posts

196 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Guvernator said:
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?
Nova? wink

SpudLink

5,775 posts

192 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
s m said:
Guvernator said:
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?
Nova SR smile
Bugger! You beat me to it.

Skater12

Original Poster:

507 posts

158 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
s m said:
Guvernator said:
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?
Nova SR smile

P-Jay

10,564 posts

191 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Guvernator said:
They NEED to bring back boxy wheelarches. Every car I have seen with it looks absolutely fantastic!

E30 M3 - Yes
Lancia Integrale - Yes
Audi Quattro - Yes

Even this Manta is elevated by the presence of them. Any more I've missed?
Golf Rallye.


JohnBender

119 posts

145 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
Love it love it Love it!!!! out of my price range, but looking at the quality and work, i don't its too expensive either....

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

168 months

Thursday 26th April 2012
quotequote all
P-Jay said:
Golf Rallye.

Funny you should mention that car - Riggers is driving one today as part of his Wolfsburg visit. Full story in due course.