RE: Opel Manta GTE: Spotted
Discussion
Years ago a pal of mine bought a three year old Manta. I'd read the road tests and was looking forward to it being a cracking drive. I was disappointed. The engine was gruff and the whole car just felt a bit old.
I was driving an Alfa GT Junior at the time (with a chassis dating back to 1964) and dynamically they were surprisingly similar, they drove much the same way although the Manta suffered very badly from slow steering and axle hop under power out of corners. Ok, the Alfa felt old too but it WAS old, the Manta was an old car being sold as a new one.
I think they're a bit like RWD Escorts, great all tweaked up with a proper engine in them but in period, out of the showroom, a bit meh.
I was driving an Alfa GT Junior at the time (with a chassis dating back to 1964) and dynamically they were surprisingly similar, they drove much the same way although the Manta suffered very badly from slow steering and axle hop under power out of corners. Ok, the Alfa felt old too but it WAS old, the Manta was an old car being sold as a new one.
I think they're a bit like RWD Escorts, great all tweaked up with a proper engine in them but in period, out of the showroom, a bit meh.
cheddar said:
Cracking cars for tiny money, I paid £600 and it ran faultlessly. It would show over 100mph in 3rd and cruise at that all day thanks to a long top gear. 2 litre Capri's were old nails in comparison.
Yes 2 litre Capris may have been nails by comparison, but Ford made the 2.8 Injection by then so really the Manta GT/e was a nail at the time....Probably why I didn't bother with one!
Needs the later Cavalier two liter on a pair of forty fives-instant 200+bhp, a little lighter too.
Ten years worth of happy Manta memories, best car I had owned, 2.2ltr webbers Blydenstein head and cam (thankyou uncle Bill).Thirteen xseven minilights with yoko hfr o1That car simply adhored the winding Norfolk roads where I lived at the time . Wouldn't mind another but it would need to be a coupe, great cars.
Ten years worth of happy Manta memories, best car I had owned, 2.2ltr webbers Blydenstein head and cam (thankyou uncle Bill).Thirteen xseven minilights with yoko hfr o1That car simply adhored the winding Norfolk roads where I lived at the time . Wouldn't mind another but it would need to be a coupe, great cars.
Time to wheel out the only picture I have of my first ever car. - a 1974 1.9 Manta. Complete with vinyl roof and 185/70 13 tyres. Bought as an 17 year old Uni student in Aberdeen in 1980 for the grand sum of 975 GBP. Hard to believe it now that it was only 6 years old when purchased, it seemed much older. Maybe cars now wear better?
The dubious taste in seat covers and fog lights can be put down to my youth.
The dubious taste in seat covers and fog lights can be put down to my youth.
el romeral said:
Bought as an 17 year old Uni student in Aberdeen in 1980 for the grand sum of 975 GBP.
The original first-generation Manta is still such a pretty thing, probably the most stylish car GM has ever produced. I was also in Aberdeen in 1980 (was ops manager for Air Anglia, 23 years old) and then had a scabby Mk3 Cortina 1600E, dreadful thing - replaced it soon after with a Mk2 Capri 1600 which was also crap and was promptly stolen and burnt out, used the insurance payout to buy my P6 3600S, which was simply in a different league. I'd still quite like a Mk1 Manta, preferably with a Carlton 24-valve straight six or a Rover/Chev V8 swapped in...RoverP6B said:
The original first-generation Manta is still such a pretty thing, probably the most stylish car GM has ever produced. I was also in Aberdeen in 1980 (was ops manager for Air Anglia, 23 years old) and then had a scabby Mk3 Cortina 1600E, dreadful thing - replaced it soon after with a Mk2 Capri 1600 which was also crap and was promptly stolen and burnt out, used the insurance payout to buy my P6 3600S, which was simply in a different league. I'd still quite like a Mk1 Manta, preferably with a Carlton 24-valve straight six or a Rover/Chev V8 swapped in...
Small world, I bought my P6 3500S in 1979!Still don't know why they stopped making the Manta - it would have been great with a Vauxhall 16V red-top engine!
Vauxhall should have done a mainstream hot Manta, the GTE was a bit tame and the 200/400s were a bit exotic and in limited supply for most mortals, I suppose the had the Monza but that was a big step up in size and price, they needed a 150/160 bhp Manta to span the gap between the Manta GTE and the Monza GSE with 190 bhp.
I had a 1.8 GT on a F plate when I was 19 or so. Lovely car, great fun but utterly rotten. The engine was dull as said, but I still enjoyed it. Killed the poor thing getting about 3ft of air off a bridge, snapped the bracket thing holding the front of the axle, which just proved it was totally rotten.
Mr Tidy said:
Small world, I bought my P6 3500S in 1979!
Still don't know why they stopped making the Manta - it would have been great with a Vauxhall 16V red-top engine!
I didn't get mine until 1984. The Capri was my father's, replacing his rusted-out Mk3 Cortina 2-litre, which was stripped for as many parts as I could use on my 1600E. Dad died in '83, so I had about a year of that Capri. My then future best man, around the same time, bought a second-generation Manta, and it was also in a different league to the Capri, vastly superior in pretty much every way, but still not a patch on my Rover. Personally, I'd have liked to see a Manta recalling the original style-wise, with a 24-valve straight six in it...Still don't know why they stopped making the Manta - it would have been great with a Vauxhall 16V red-top engine!
s m said:
Z
Cool ad, but amazing how things have changed
60 was an 'ultra-low profile' tyre
0-60 in 'just' 8.9 seconds
Top speed of 120
They did manage to do the numbers too
8.5 achieved to 60 and a genuine 122 on the bowl so probably a real 125 on a long straight.
32 years ago with 110bhp
Indeed - very significant in context when the average 1.3 Escort or 1.6 Cortina / Sierra popular on the roads of the day had skinny 155 / 70 / 13 tyres and took 12-16s to reach 60, and highly competitive against the "new" hot hatchbacks of the time such as the Golf GTI & Escort XR3i which reached 60 in around 9s on their 185 / 60 /14s. 7600 quid was superb value compared with them.monthefish said:
Miglia 888 said:
60 was an 'ultra-low profile' tyre
0-60 in 'just' 8.9 seconds
Top speed of 120
8.5 achieved to 60 and a genuine 122 on the bowl so probably a real 125 on a long straight.
32 years ago with 110bhp
The slippery aero shaped Astra GTE did manage a slightly higher top speed from its 115hp 1.8 engine when it started to appear from 84/85 onwards.
However, I can confirm that folding the (single) drivers door mirror back on the Manta GTE while approaching terminal velocity, was just sufficient to overcome this disadvantage (on the autobahn of course...) until the 2.0 Astra GTE's with 130hp and then 150hp started to hit the streets.
This was my cue to swap the Manta GTE, for a Monza GSE with huge 15" wheels, 205 tyres, and a massive 180hp as standard...
Miglia 888 said:
This was my cue to swap the Manta GTE, for a Monza GSE with huge 15" wheels, 205 tyres, and a massive 180hp as standard...
Lovely, always fancied a manual Monza GSE (having had 2 Capri Injections) but it was one that got away! Liked the early ones with the analogue speedo, although a mate had a later one with the digital speedo and getting 3 digits showing on the M1 was quite entertaining (especially as I wasn't driving at the time)!
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