When I was looking to buy my first car back in 1979, I really, really wanted an Opel Manta A. I loved the purposeful forward-leaning front end (echoes of BMW’s “sharknose”), the wide but narrow grille (a contradiction, I know, but I know what I mean) housing a twin-headlamp set-up, the smooth and nicely integrated fastback, finishing in the almost imperceptible upward “swoosh” of the tail. The round rear lights looked cool (another BMW echo), and there was the name – Manta. The sea creature the car is named after is a combination of graceful style and easy power – I remember trying to follow one while snorkelling in the Bahamas almost 30 years ago, it just seemed to glide effortlessly away from me – and the Opel Manta looked the part, even if it wasn’t necessarily as fast or as powerful as it looked in some versions – more on that later.
Unfortunately, I was under some time pressure to find a car as I was about to start my first job after graduating from university that year; I was going to need one to get to work, and there wasn’t a Manta for sale anywhere near me – bear in mind this is decades before the internet made searching for a car so much easier. The primary place to look was the local newspaper classified section; even the motoring magazines weren’t that much use as many of the cars advertised within were some way away – it really needed to be something within a few miles. One of the firefighters at our local fire station had a beautiful metallic blue Manta which was immaculate in every way, but while he was happy to show it to me, he wasn’t going to sell it. Eventually I settled for a mustard yellow Triumph Dolomite 1850HL which I bought from a couple of teachers – the lesson I learned from them was that even teachers can stitch you up…
Anyway, that was 41 years ago but this year actually marks the Manta’s 50th anniversary. 1970 – the year I became a teenager, the year that my favourite rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer released their first album, the year when Carlos Alberto of Brazil put the finishing touch to possibly the greatest World Cup team goal before or since – was also the year that General Motors’ German division, Opel, introduced the Manta A. Although it was based on the Ascona saloon, it was in fact launched a couple of months ahead of its more sedate-looking sibling; indeed, underneath its sleek skin, the Manta pretty much was an Ascona – chassis, engine, suspension… only its interior trim and that sporty exterior differed.
Important events in 1970 – for me, anyway
It’s a car with many fans here at ViaRETRO, though some prefer the Manta B, but not this writer. There’s always been a place for the A in my heart, but somehow, never in my garage – timing, circumstances, blah blah. In fact, it pains me to admit that I’ve never even driven one. They’re harder to find than ever now – certainly in RHD –and I sometimes think I might never get to own one, especially when now, unlike back in 1979, so many other classics are vying for space in my (presently imaginary) garage and (not large enough) bank account. And yet I keep being drawn to the Manta A and am always thrilled when I see one at a show here.
So what is it about the Manta that still draws me to it like a moth to the flame whenever I see one all these years later? Well, I think it looks as cool as ever, and has dated very well. It’s obviously a 1970’s car – the sharknose alone attests to that – but being relatively unadorned with superfluous chrome or unnecessary styling flourishes, it’s aged well.
It was sold only as an Opel – no Vauxhall badged version was ever made available. In fact it was sold in the UK in competition with the Vauxhall Firenza until both were replaced in 1975 by the Manta B and Cavalier Hatch. The car that Opel really had in their sights – though apparently never publicly said so – was the phenomenally successful Ford Capri, which had a two-year head start which it never really gave up.
Nothing wrong with either of these – but the Manta wins every time.
The swooping, graceful coupé body was originally styled in-house under the direction of Chuck Jordan and bore no resemblance to any other Opel, despite sharing many mechanical components with principally the Ascona. Although a fairly compact car – with a wheelbase just slightly longer than its smaller brother Kadett, it came in at 14ft 3in long and 5ft 4.5in wide (5 inches longer than BMW’s ’02, but only very slightly wider) – the Manta was nevertheless a practical four-seater, with a pretty spacious boot, too, remarkably like a Capri, and indeed, an ’02.
Mechanically, the Manta came with three four-cylinder engines, ranging from 1.2-litre, through 1.6 and up to 1.9 litres. The 60bhp 1.2 was severely under-powered and was never made available in the US or UK; it’s a bit of a sheep in wolf’s clothing and one to avoid.
The 1.6 and 1.9 pumped out between 68 and 105bhp, depending on which version you bought, with the 80bhp 1.6S being the most popular, though it still looked faster than it was. Top speed was just over 100mph and 60mph was reached from standstill in a pretty modest 13.3 seconds. This made the Manta a little quicker than the equivalent Capri, with the figures for a Mk1 Capri 1600 being a top speed of 98 mph and a 0-60 time of 15.3 seconds.
More overtly sporting was the 1.9, particularly in SR or better still, fuel-injected GT/E form, with the latter able to reach a maximum speed of 117mph and hit 60mph in 10.9 seconds, not bad at all. Both the SR and GT/E also looked faster, with side-body stripes, black bonnets, sportier wheel trims and additional gauges all of which obviously made the car quicker, especially when standing still. The GT/E in particular looks extrovertly sporting but was unfortunately never sold in the UK.
The standard trim packages went from Deluxe through S and Berlinetta – the latter being very popular, consisting as it did of colour matching vinyl roof, a sunroof, cloth interior, headrests, rubber trim on the bumpers and a few other bits and pieces, combining to make your sports coupé a little more luxurious. I’m not generally a fan of vinyl roofs, but the Manta A Berlinetta does suit one. In 1974, a special edition badged Luxus was added in the UK – available only in Signal Red with the 1.9S engine, and a host of extra trim items, just 400 were made; I’ve never seen one.
Manta’s sold in the USA had yet more variations on the above, and it’s also worth mentioning three special editions sold in Europe – the Manta Black Magic (available only in Germany), the exceptionally rare Turbomanta, of which just 28 were built by Broadspeed and sold only in the UK and not least the wild TE2800 – technically not even an Opel, built as it was by Belgian company Transeurop Engineering with no involvement from Opel and a model which our own Soren Navntoft wrote about at some length here.
While denying they were after the Ford Capri driver, Opel’s marketing suggests otherwise, with the car often pictured with a “stylish” – or what passed for stylish at the time – male model and frequently with a beautiful woman draped somewhere over the car (never behind the wheel), implying both macho sportiness and sex appeal.
The Manta A sold well in its five-year run; almost half-a-million examples – 498,553 to be precise – rolled out of Russelsheim between 1970 and 1975, so while not a hit on the scale of the Capri, with almost 1.5m Mk1’s sold, it was a success nonetheless.
However, as I mentioned earlier, finding one for sale these days is increasingly difficult, especially with RHD – as I write, there doesn’t appear to be a single one for sale in the UK, at least not in the main classified columns. There aren’t even that many in the car’s home market, or at least, not many good ones, and while still not in the same price range as the Capri or BMW ‘02, prices are starting to climb.
Finding a good original car is hampered by the fact that the Manta was prone to being modified – not always in a good way – being fitted with bigger engines, wheels, flared arches etc… making stock models a rarity indeed.
A few weeks ago I stumbled across a metallic green one for sale in Portugal for £15,000 – it looked terrific and was a 1.9, but unsurprisingly, it’s since been sold.
Personally, I would say that the one to have is a 1.9GT/E, but they’re as rare as rocking horse droppings. I would be happy with a standard 1.9 or even a 1.6S. My high-speed driving days are behind me, but even though I’m shallow and my love of the Manta is based largely on its looks, a 1.2 would definitely not do the trick.
After 50 years, the Opel Manta A looks as cool as ever and I still find myself dreaming about owning one. It’s hard to know how many remain in the UK – howmanyleft.com doesn’t split the A and B out – but I do know that I’ve seen no more than a handful at all the events that I’ve attended over the past three or four years pre-Covid-19 (and there have been many) – so if I am ever to get my hands on the steering wheel of one, it’ll almost certainly be LHD and sourced from somewhere like Germany or maybe Portugal…
