Last time I pictured this Opel on my site I received an email from somebody in Germany asking me questions about it. Unfortunately I have no data on it, other than the fact that it appeared at a local car show here in Arlington, WA. It certainly is a nice example of something you don’t see much of these days.
If I ever run across a decent one of those..it’s MINE! Really not a bad car, not terribly good at anything in particular but durable as nails and, IMHO, still a darn good-looking little car.
I think this is an Opel Manta of mid 1970s vintage. They were decent cars with a 2.0L motor and handled very well. This specimen looks quite attractive although I’m not sure about the aftermarket muscle car hood scoop.
MD, you are correct: it’s a ’75 (fat bumpers). They were *OK* handlers and could be easily tuned to do much better but the 1900 engine just wasn’t a ‘happy’ engine: I had a customer with one and we built a ‘monster motor,” for him to autocross with: even with near $5000 (1987 $s, to boot!) worth of mods and work, it only put out ~160 (correced) HP. Made for a QUICK Manta, though!
MD…I meant to concur: the goofy hood scoop does *no* justice to the otherwise clean and simple lines of the Manta.
Paul: I always had a soft spot for these Euro GM cars. When I was a youth I used to work for a Vauxhall dealer in the UK and fancied the Opel Manta’s precursor, the Vauxhall Viva GT (of c1968 vintage). This was quite a hooligan car in the day with a 2.0l motor stuffed into an engine bay designed for a shopping level 1200cc lump. It went like stink and came with a boy racer matt black bonnet and fake scoops as stock. See here:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vauxhall_Viva_GT_(HB)_reg_1965_Biggleswade.JPG
If I can ever find one I’ll snap it up but I don’t think many found their way across the pond.
Doesn’t mean much, but *I* never saw one of these over here!
Kinda cute, in an ugly sorta way! I know of that “1200cc lump,” as it *did* make its way into Opel Kadetts and into a few GTs….*what* a weak and worthless lil motor!