Vehicle Details
- Year: 1972
- Make: Opel
- Model: Manta A
- VIN: 579644272
- Mileage: 35,726mi (5-digit odometer)
- Transmission: Manual
- Title Status: Clean
- Color: Fire Glow Orange
- Seller: Autobob
- Seller Type: Private Party
- Location: Wichita, KS 67214
- Lot #: V-0023011
Available for auction is this 1972 Opel Manta A Rallye finished in Fire Glow Orange over a black and grey cloth interior. Opel is a German marque imported by General Motors and sold through Buick dealers from 1958 to 1975. The Manta Rallye is a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe favored by racers at the time for its chassis, steering, brakes, and aerodynamics. This 1972 example is being sold by its long-term owner of 44 years and has been modified with an array of performance upgrades including a complete performance engine build, larger brakes, Bilstein dampers, Corbeau front bucket seats, and more. With numerous service items addressed in the last six months, this Manta is now being offered for auction by its seller out of Kansas.
This Manta A is finished in Fire Glow Orange and comes equipped with the Rallye package which adds a satin black hood. Other details include custom-painted side stripes, a Kamei rear spoiler, Flex Dam front spoiler, Cibie headlamps with protectors, Autoplas rear window louvers, and Vitaloni mirrors. It rides on a set of 15” OZ Racing 3-piece wheels dressed in Yokohama S-Drive tires. Detailed images can be found in the gallery.
The cabin has been fitted with a pair of Corbeau bucket seats upholstered in black and grey cloth. Details include a Kenwood radio with an Alphasonik amplifier, a Wink full-length rearview mirror, Marchal air horns, a remote alarm system, and a collectible Benneton F1 steering wheel. The air conditioning system has been upgraded to a modern compressor and was recently charged with R134.
Power comes from a heavily reworked 1.9L inline 4-cylinder engine featuring dual Weber 45 DCOE carburetors, a ported cylinder head with larger valves, a Norris camshaft, Jacobs ignition, Jahns pistons, Deves piston rings, Glyco tri-metal engine bearings, a three-core stagger-tube radiator, ceramic coated headers, and an electric low-pressure fuel pump. Power is sent to the rear wheels by way of a 4-speed manual transmission with a heavy-duty F&S clutch and a 3:64 rear differential. All rotating assemblies have been balanced including the lightened flywheel and clutch. Braking is handled by upgraded calipers/discs, and the suspension includes upgraded Bilstein shocks, larger sway bars, and a reinforced front subframe. Service within the last six months is said to include new engine compartment fuel lines and filter, cleaning and synchronizing of the carburetors, lubrication of the sway bar bushings, new Redline synthetic fluids, a new battery, brake master cylinder with fluid flush, front jack point replacements and a new trunk seal.
This sale will include a clean title.
Auction Results
- Sold for: $25,750
- Auction End: Oct 03, 2022 07:11:04PM UTC
- Number of Bids: 57
Comments (92)
@pschmidt, @ texasm3- Thank you very much and I'm thrilled to bring the Manta home in S. Cali.
Sold for $25,750
Thank you Archer1 !
Thank you everyone that called / texted direct and everyone that bid and wanted the Manta !
Congrats Archer! Well Done Bob.
Archer, congrats. Enjoy this beautiful car and give it a good home.
Bid in the amount of $25,750
Bid in the amount of $25,500
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Bid in the amount of $24,750
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Bid in the amount of $22,500
Someone’s getting a fantastic and unique car
Bid in the amount of $22,250
Bid in the amount of $22,000
I have lifted the reserve, after visiting with most of the bidders I think the car will be going to a good home.
Bid in the amount of $21,750
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Bid in the amount of $15,000
Hi, this auction ends in about 3hrs, I have the beautiful Manta with clean title in hand and will be glad to help anyone with transportation needs.
This is a rare and very sorted car that would cost a much bigger pile of dough if one tried to reproduce it. And then you would still have to go through the sorting out process.
Thanks for all the good questions and bids.
Bob
Bid in the amount of $14,250
@bellaghia Hi, sorry, we overlapped in messages plus I meant to put your handle there with Nitromance but my finger to brain ratio goofed! Thanks, Bob
Bid in the amount of $12,500
What areas of the body are original paint or put another way, when the car was last painted 20 years ago was the glass out were the door jambs repainted? It looks as though the motor compartment and trunk could be original paint. Had the car been repainted or was it original paint at that time?
First thank everyone for your continued bids.
@Nitromancer and all.
Body and paint: Owning the Manta for such a long time, order and time of completion are a little hard to recall.
My wife bought the car in 1979. I don’t recall any body damage, I have no knowledge or history on the first seven years. If there had been some repairs, which is possible, they were minor, it was and is a good solid car.
The car sustained some damage in a parking lot to the left front, a dented fender and hood. Untouched were the inner fender, windshield cowl, door and suspension. We had good parts on hand for the body man who is more artist than traditional body man. As I recall he removed both fenders, hood and glass as he wanted the body gaps to be as matched as possible. The engine compartment and trunk are all original paint, the door jams are a mix of new paint and original paint but mostly original. The paint is polyurethane, the stripes are painted on and the whole car is clear coated, except for the black Rallye hood and trim. The black is also a modern high-end paint, and is more user friendly than I remember the factory black paint being to upkeep. If any oil films or bird dumps on the black I gently wash with a car wash soap or if car is clean, I lightly use Meguiars Final Finish on the spots, and it looks fantastic. The battery box had corrosion and was repaired, and the area painted black. The front glass and front and rear glass seals have been replaced and are nice and supple. I deleted the chrome weather seal inserts as I prefer the black appearance. I have been told black inserts are now available. The door glass rubbers were replaced and are supple and flexible. The rear ¼ window vertical rubber seals, that the door glass closes on, were replaced this year. I also did, for additional clearance, a mild by hand flair on rear wheel arches, rolled the front inner fender lips and trimmed the rear inner lips a bit. The bright metal that clipped on around the wheel well lips was also removed, to give, to my eye, a cleaner smoother look to the car. The floorboards are virgin to my knowledge, except as noted in my first post, the previously described jack point replacement areas. These are very important areas on Mantas and this car should never have an issue there. After the paint had cured for 6 months, I had the painter color sand the Fireglow paint from just below the black stripes up. Then we polished the paint with various compounds, finishing with Jetseal. I did not go to this extra effort on lower areas of the car is it’s not as noticeable as the upper layers which reflect light to your eye. Also, I wanted the paint as thick as possible in the lower areas in case future polishing was needed from gravel, door mars, ect.
The car is 50 years old and really presents itself well, is very tight, fun, easy to operate and repair.
A European Tuner car preceding the Fast and Furious group by a couple of decades.
Bid in the amount of $12,072
@Autobob - Thank you again.
@Archer1 I assume you mean a photo of the factory steering wheel. I do not have immediate access to that wheel but am sure I have at least one to choose from. Since I will not have access to a factory steering wheel before the auction closes I recommend bidding as if there is no stock steering wheel available. BTW as the Manta has a custom MOMO steering wheel hub any MOMO steering wheel will fit, if you wanted a black leather for example just the six bolts under the colorful Benetton pad will allow a quick replacement. The aftermarket Italian leather has a much better feel than the factory wheel did.
Bid in the amount of $11,750
Beautiful Manta. Reminds me of a really fast version of the '73 Luxus that my Dad drove when I was growing up. Glad to see so much interest in this car and will throw my hat in the ring with others hoping to give her a good home.
Bid in the amount of $11,500
Autobob (seller)-Thank you for checking on the wheels Bob. Could you add a picture of the steering wheel please. Thx
What areas of the body are original paint or put another way, when the car was last painted 20 years ago was the glass out were the door jambs repainted? It looks as though the motor compartment and trunk could be original paint. Had the car been repainted or was it original paint at that time?
@Archer1 I did check on the stock wheels and do not have a set, sorry.
@bellaghia Date code on the tires is 2009 they have no flat spots, bubbles or cracks but would be best to replace from age. If driving local as a pleasure toy, ;-) should be ok for awhile but best to change.
I should also mention the seat brackets are Recaro that I have modified to accept Corbeau seats.
So if one wanted to change seats you could use either Recaro or Corbeau.
Autobob (seller) - Thank you.
What is the date code on the tires?
@Archer1 Thank you, we appreciate it.
I have no stock seats, I do have a stock steering wheel.
On steel wheels I don’t believe I have a set but will look.
No issues on part or parts going with the sale.
Autobob (seller)- Wow, My 1st car's twin and what a beauty! ?? 1000 Kudos to you for giving such a great loving care to Manta, she's been a very lucky girl and deserves the same level of love and care with the next custodian ?. 2 Q's for you, do you still have the OG front seats, steering wheel, and rallye wheels, if you do, will it go with sale?
@Magicalmachine Sorry don't know why your handle was dropped by the software but thank you for your bid too!
BTW the photos I added were taken this AM in front of the mural on our warehouse with the formula car cresting the hill.
@rhmoritz Thank you for the compliment, sorry but no GT. I like the GT styling and light weight but always favored the Manta's chassis and room.
and @richjs43 Thank you for your bids.
Additional content has been added to the gallery for this listing.
Bid in the amount of $11,250
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You wouldn’t happen to have an Opel GT lying around in your collection in this condition?
Kudos for keeping and maintaining the Manta in such pristine condition.
Bid in the amount of $8,000
Bid in the amount of $7,500
@texasm3 Thank you for the bid, it was nice visiting with you Ken.
@richjs43 Thank you and welcome back !
Bid in the amount of $7,250
Bid in the amount of $7,000
When we came back to the states in the early 70's my mom had one of these - great little cars.
Bid in the amount of $6,500
@analogmike I hope this little jewel never sees snow! It is way to sweet!
Modern wide sticky tires seem to mitigate the lack of a limited slip in most cars. Even auto crossing rarely showed the need with these levels of power.
I have found cars with automatics can have more of an issue as with stick shift you can choose gear, modulate clutch and power for slick conditions.
Love this beautiful car! It's not listed, but I hope it has a limited slip. I had a stock one 40 years ago and it was the worst one wheel drive car I've owned, even with very little power it would just spin that one wheel in the dry. Forget accelerating in damp conditions, keep it in the garage if there's any chance of snow. ;)
@Rowej Indeed it is like one of the family and tough to sell but it will be fun to see someone adopt the car and enjoy.
Must say I have enjoyed the unique, exclusiveness of this car.
It is a very easy car to maintain, lots of working room with simple electronics and mechanicals.
Really nice job taking care of this Opel. You don’t see many for sale, and especially in this fabulous condition. Must be hard to sell after 40 years. Don’t see many for sale or sold, so hard to figure the current value as well. Good Luck with the Auction, I’ll be watching.
@richjs43 Thank you, I appreciate your comments.
@dakrei and @JeffSilva thank you for your bids
@renchris
The front inner fender lips are rolled, like on vintage BMW M cars and the inner rear lips have had minor trimming. As it is no issues even with full trunk or when cornering. BTW the sway bars keep the body quite flat when cornering. At full lock in reverse gear, steering wheel all way left or right there is slight contact from tire to front lower valence. I also have a 71” Manta that is lowered with 205/60/13s and it does same light contact in reverse gear only at full lock. Not sure on lowering, most likely ok but I think an inch would be all I would go to keep proper geometry in suspension and keep these springs around, as they are proven good.
I just always liked the stance of this car and the flexibility of driving pretty much where ever wanted with no stress on the car or my wife, or Me! }
Bid in the amount of $5,000
Can the car be lowered with that set of wheels and tires on the car?
Bid in the amount of $1,000
Bob,,,great presentation, photos, videos, and of course, the Manta….looking forward to seeing how it does…if I had not just bought a new car, I would definitely be in this auction…good luck!!!!
Hi, from my wife’s collection, she has owned this Manta A for the last 43 years. In the 1970s the Opel 1900 Manta coupe, was banned from ‘SCCA”, showroom stock racing. The agile Manta was deemed uncompetitive for having an ‘unfair advantage’. Problem was the reliable Opel dominated most races due to the excellent balance of the car. The Opel’s chassis, steering, brakes and aerodynamics were superb for the day and power was adequate in stock form. My wife and I now retired, owned Autobahn in Ks a brick and mortar performance shop. This Manta was professionally built to be a fun drive as well as occasional autocross car. It has won several car shows and safely transported us to SEMA and annual Bilstein meetings from Wichita to La Jolla, Ca. In addition to the more obvious period performance mods the blue arrows in the suspension photos show the triangular reinforcements we did to the front suspension cross member. We also have removed the poorly designed stock front jack points and designed a combination flat jack point for scissor of lift arm pads that also offers better frame rigidity.
The solid body with stunning Fire Glow polyurethane paint, strong power plant, brakes and chassis make this a very fun, rare and desirable vintage sports car.
There is a group of US Opel enthusiasts that are quite knowledgeable both in stock and modified Opels. Parts are also available new from quality suppliers and used from both individuals and businesses.
We have completed a large maintenance on this car as listed in the description. The car is located in Wichita, Ks and can be driven or transported to your destination. This car performs much better than originally designed, is beautiful, durable and sounds great. Please watch the walk around video and view the drive by. Thank you, Bob