RE: Opel Manta GT/E: Spotted

[Miglia 888]

Loads more great old car ads from magazines & newspapers, available on the other thread:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[s m]

Miglia 888 said:

ep, having put 70,000+ miles on my 86 Opel Manta GT/E Coupe company car within 18 months from new,

Blimey - that's a good effort! Was that all motorway plodding ( something I found it was great at with the long 5th gear ) ?

[Miglia 888]

s m said:

Miglia 888 said:

Yep, having put 70,000+ miles on my 86 Opel Manta GT/E Coupe company car within 18 months from new,

Blimey - that's a good effort! Was that all motorway plodding ( something I found it was great at with the long 5th gear ) ?

Yep, mainly motorway miles between London & Cardiff, but with plenty of B-road fun amongst those too.

Mine was white with the later grey interior and red piping on the GTE badged Recaro seats and with the standard slide-only sunroof which had no wind deflector on the leading edge, so you needed a front or rear window open slightly to stop the cabin space from buffeting/resonating at speed. I got C875GUH in 1986 from the Opel dealer in Newport, however its tax was last due in Oct 97 and it hasn't been taxed or MOT'd since, so it looks like it lasted 11 years before disappearing off the road for good.

5th gear on that Getrag box was indeed a great cruising gear with good economy on the motorway, but slightly too long for maximum speed as mentioned previously here and on the Astra GTE thread. However, although the Manta GT/E had slightly less power than the 1.8 Mk1 Astra GTE's, it had slightly more torque and a lower more slippery shape with a slightly smaller frontal area, so could outrun them on top speed.
And if you folded the Manta's single door mirror back which you could do internally from the drivers seat, it was good for another 2-3 mph or so, which enabled you to slowly outrun the first Mk2 aero-shape Astra GTE 1.8's, until they started fitting the 2.0 8v 130bhp lumps into them - fun days back then, all on derestricted autobahns of course.

[KP328]

Miglia 888 said:

And if you folded the Manta's single door mirror back which you could do internally from the drivers seat, it was good for another 2-3 mph or so, which enabled you to slowly outrun the first Mk2 aero-shape Astra GTE 1.8's, until they started fitting the 2.0 8v 130bhp lumps into them - fun days back then, all on derestricted autobahns of course.

I remember my Brother saying at certain speeds his door mirror would flap back by its self.

[irocfan]

@sf_manta -please do do a build thread (and to my shame I quite like the green interior)

mhurley said:

Cool car at the time
Anyone remember the Opel Monza and the Vauxhall Royale Coupe?

indeed, I had its predecessor the Commodore B GS/E coupe as my first car

s m said:

A couple of asides - I do miss this style of summary in Autocar

Also ultra-low profile 195/60

[s m]

Miglia 888 said:

Yep, mainly motorway miles between London & Cardiff, but with plenty of B-road fun amongst those too.

Mine was white with the later grey interior and red piping on the GTE badged Recaro seats and with the standard slide-only sunroof which had no wind deflector on the leading edge, so you needed a front or rear window open slightly to stop the cabin space from buffeting/resonating at speed. I got C875GUH in 1986 from the Opel dealer in Newport, however its tax was last due in Oct 97 and it hasn't been taxed or MOT'd since, so it looks like it lasted 11 years before disappearing off the road for good.

I didn’t have a sunroof in mine but I did like the rear opening windows - great with the dash vents open for a nice throughflow of air when it was hot or to save car steaming up

Mine went the way of many cheap rwd cars in the 90s - over to Ireland on the weekend ferry.
I put a lot of Waxoyl/rustproofing into it from nearly new and never had any problems with rust. I like to think it may still survive. Did the same with my Astra 16v and that just got another years MOT a week ago

[Mr Tidy]

s m said:

Like I say, apart from things like the 2.8i or Lancer Turbo or Mk1 MR2, find a 4-seater common hot hatch/coupe of 2-litre from 83/84 that was much faster than 25 seconds to a ton or could top 120?



Mantas didn’t feel fast, granted, but they did the numbers

Interesting to see the acceleration times for the Golf Gti - noticeably quicker than the Manta. Maybe a sign of things to come?

Strange that the Lancia HPE got included in that road test though - IIRC that was only £20 cheaper than a Capri 2.8i, which would have wiped the floor with all of them! No wonder I had two of them.

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

s m said:

Like I say, apart from things like the 2.8i or Lancer Turbo or Mk1 MR2, find a 4-seater common hot hatch/coupe of 2-litre from 83/84 that was much faster than 25 seconds to a ton or could top 120?



Mantas didn’t feel fast, granted, but they did the numbers

Interesting to see the acceleration times for the Golf Gti - noticeably quicker than the Manta.

Certainly 0.4 seconds quicker to 60 but the Manta GTE had turned that round by 100 to have a THREE second advantage over the 1800 Golf GTi Mk1 and a good 5mph on top speed! You could see that sort of gap on open roads if you were inclined to
I had a Mk 1 1800 Gti after my fIrst RS2000 and although it was a great engine I still preferred the RS or Manta
They even make note of it in the Golf Gti test!! See below, and that was including the Mk2 1800 as well. The GTi wasn't faster overall till the 16v arrived




Like I said, apart from things like the 2.8i or Lancer Turbo or Mk1 MR2, find a 4-seater common hot hatch/coupe of 2-litre from 83/84 that was much faster than 25 seconds to a ton or could top 120?

[Miglia 888]

Mr Tidy said:

Strange that the Lancia HPE got included in that road test though

That was just Motor's choice of rivals for comparison as a summary at the end of the Manta GT/E road test - look at the other possible rivals at the top of the page and the Capri 2.0S was cheaper but slower at £5,995 while an Audi Coupe GT was even more expensive than the Lancia HPE at £8,769.

Here's the full test:

[Miglia 888]

s m said:

I didn’t have a sunroof in mine but I did like the rear opening windows - great with the dash vents open for a nice throughflow of air when it was hot or to save car steaming up

Nice one - the opening rear windows were indeed great for increased air throughflow, and I'm a sucker for them to this day.
I also love the photo of your Manta GT/E parked with other stuff on the road the time in context.
Is that an Astra SR or SRi, Audi Coupe, a Renault 5 or Fiat 127 then an Escort or Marina van, a Bedford CF and a Transit van on the end?

Found a Motor road test of the Manta i240 from December 84 for you - hope it brings back more great memories:

[Miglia 888]

s m said:

Forgot to add, losing the passenger door mirror & mudflaps would probably have liberated an extra 5mph or more

[rallycross]

I saw what Looked like a very clean Manta Gte hatch in grey on the back of a transit flat bed this afternoon on the M3 near Southampton

[s m]

Miglia 888 said:

Found a Motor road test of the Manta i240 from December 84 for you - hope it brings back more great memories:

Cheers, the old Motor stuff is great - they tended to have more offbeat stuff than Autocar








Point noted re the mirror - I remember it would hit the fuel cut in 4th though even with the passenger one

When it was 2.2 it would carry on going in 5th too rather than the speed decaying on any slight incline

[Mr Tidy]

Miglia 888 said:

hat was just Motor's choice of rivals for comparison as a summary at the end of the Manta GT/E road test - look at the other possible rivals at the top of the page and the Capri 2.0S was cheaper but slower at £5,995 while an Audi Coupe GT was even more expensive than the Lancia HPE at £8,769.

Fair point that you and "s m" both make.

I could possibly have phrased what I typed a bit better.

My point being that if I had been able to find a budget of £6,645 for a new Manta back then (and I possibly might have managed it) I wouldn't have even considered looking at a £7,975 Lancia as an alternative, and definitely wouldn't have contemplated an Audi Coupe at £8,769 for over 30% more than the cost of the Manta - surely that must have been getting towards Monza money?

I half considered a new Manta GT/E (there was a firm called Barwell that used to help you get a personal import for a lower price - from Belgium IIRC) but in the end I sacrificed the new car experience for more grunt and less money, and got a 2 year old Capri Injection for just under £5,000!

As things turned out that ended up being a good decision - the Capri had to go a year later for a deposit on my 1st house.

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

Fair point that you and "s m" both make.

I could possibly have phrased what I typed a bit better.

My point being that if I had been able to find a budget of £6,645 for a new Manta back then (and I possibly might have managed it) I wouldn't have even considered looking at a £7,975 Lancia as an alternative, and definitely wouldn't have contemplated an Audi Coupe at £8,769 for over 30% more than the cost of the Manta - surely that must have been getting towards Monza money?

I half considered a new Manta GT/E (there was a firm called Barwell that used to help you get a personal import for a lower price - from Belgium IIRC) but in the end I sacrificed the new car experience for more grunt and less money, and got a 2 year old Capri Injection for just under £5,000!

As things turned out that ended up being a good decision - the Capri had to go a year later for a deposit on my 1st house.

A Monza was considerably more - somewhere around £13000 and only offered 2.8 Capri performance really

[Mr Tidy]

s m said:

A Monza was considerably more - somewhere around £13000 and only offered 2.8 Capri performance really

Wow, I didn't realise they were that dear - they must have been aiming at Mercedes CE buyers!

Some years later a mate of mine had a Monza GS/E that took four of us on a 100+ mile trip to a stock car meeting - at Coventry IIRC.

Plenty of space in the rear, and very comfortable - more of a barge-like experience than it would have been in a Capri that's for sure!

Funnily enough I saw my same mate on Sunday morning at a local car meet. As it was raining when he left home he didn't want to get his MGA out so arrived in his XR4i - which seems to be a great mix of Capri Injection and Monza.

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

s m said:

A Monza was considerably more - somewhere around £13000 and only offered 2.8 Capri performance really

Wow, I didn't realise they were that dear - they must have been aiming at Mercedes CE buyers!

Some years later a mate of mine had a Monza GS/E that took four of us on a 100+ mile trip to a stock car meeting - at Coventry IIRC.

Plenty of space in the rear, and very comfortable - more of a barge-like experience than it would have been in a Capri that's for sure!

Yes, they were aimed more upmarket really than the Capri 2.8 - at stuff like the Merc 280CE which was a similar price and the BMW 635Csi which was half as much again as the Monza and Merc, coming in around £20k.

Despite the upmarket image a few were used in rallying by people like Gavin Cox and Austin McHale

[Miglia 888]

s m said:

Mr Tidy said:

s m said:

A Monza was considerably more - somewhere around £13000 and only offered 2.8 Capri performance really

Wow, I didn't realise they were that dear - they must have been aiming at Mercedes CE buyers!
Some years later a mate of mine had a Monza GS/E that took four of us on a 100+ mile trip to a stock car meeting - at Coventry IIRC.
Plenty of space in the rear, and very comfortable - more of a barge-like experience than it would have been in a Capri that's for sure!

Yes, they were aimed more upmarket really than the Capri 2.8 - at stuff like the Merc 280CE which was a similar price and the BMW 635Csi which was half as much again as the Monza and Merc, coming in around £20k.
Despite the upmarket image a few were used in rallying by people like Gavin Cox and Austin McHale

Yep, Monza was always from the size class above - Manta & Capri/XR4i were Cavalier & Cortina/Sierra based respectively, while the larger & longer wheelbase Monza was a Senator based coupe and competed with more expensive machinery:



And while googling for the above, I also discovered some photos of my old Monza GSE!
It's evidently had the strut tops done plus a new exhaust and other tidying including removal of both the headlamp wiper arms (the motors seize just like the Manta's do) and the 80s carphone antenna from the rear wing - I'm so glad to see it again, and it looks like it'll be good for many more years to come

[s m]

Miglia 888 said:

ep, Monza was always from the size class above - Manta & Capri/XR4i were Cavalier & Cortina/Sierra based respectively, while the larger & longer wheelbase Monza was a Senator based coupe and competed with more expensive machinery:



And while googling for the above, I also discovered some photos of my old Monza GSE!
It's evidently had the strut tops done plus a new exhaust and other tidying including removal of both the headlamp wiper arms (the motors seize just like the Manta's do) and the 80s carphone antenna from the rear wing - I'm so glad to see it again, and it looks like it'll be good for many more years to come

Nice looking car Miglia