The handling on fast sections could now really be exploited and I distinctly recall doing an event pulling 3 figures and reeling in a Sunbeam which was bouncing all over the place on a moorland section, the Manta just squatted down and went. That combination served to exascerbate the Mantas strengths and weaknesses. However the Manta did have a great rear suspension set-up using a version of a 4 link system it made the back end very planted and predictable, that coupled with the cars length and when on a stretch with sweeping roads it gave a solidly reassuring feel.īack in the day I was lucky to have a road going GTE, D226 KTX,white with white wheels and tinted glass, where are you now….initially starting off as a road car with lowered Koni suspension she was developed over time into a road rally car, with a Group A Peter Maiden engine. Inside the dash was very 70’s but on the GTE you got lovely Recaro seats and well not much more!! But hey what did you need, pop the sunroof open,slide in your cassette if choice, (mine was a selection of soft metal) and cruise along to your hearts content. Oddly the 1.8 engine was in many ways a nicer engine to drive, far more revvy, the 2.0 litre cam in head engine was rather heavy and lethargic, some strange ratios in it’s getrag gearbox making it far more a motorway cruiser than a real performance car. The car was already an old design by then, first seeing light of day in the mid 70’s and badged variously as the cavalier coupe and the Manta, it’s looks were updated by the very 80’s trend of bodykits. Had you indeed ventured into a dealer the most realistic choice was either the 1.8 Berlinetta or the 2.0 GTE. I can vividly recall the 85 RAC rally where Andrews had a display outside the house at Weston park, sitting in a Manta 400 and saying that one day I’d have one…plus the great in car from the same event of Brookes and Mike Broad…magical times. Interlopers at the time included Bertie Fisher in the Gold Manta and Austin McHale in his black version…halcyon days indeed…but this was one car where after watching on a Sunday you could wander into your local Vauxhall/Opel dealer and buy something that looked very very similar.

Jimmy Mcrae in the Ac Delco car and Russell Brookes in the iconic Andrews version, fought tooth and nail for two years, results in the end drawing out fairly equal. Many people think 1970’s as the golden period for UK rallying, but for me the period between 1984 to 1987 takes some beating and for this article 84/85 when we saw the battle of the Manta’s. Here was a car that combined a relatively reliable engine/transmission package carried from the Ascona 400 into a lightweight Opel Manta shell with added wheel arches and cooling ducts. The most obvious of these and in some ways possibly the most successful at national level was the Manta 400. However when you looked closer within Group B there were a few vehicles which had a much closer relationship to their road going counterparts. Those of a certain age will no doubt remember the Group B era fondly, mainly for the flame spitting winged monsters that terrorised the stages for a 4 year period.

Manta car engine