Opel Manta SR 1975 Driving With Gloves

www.drivingwithgloves.info
In this episode from Driving With Gloves. Cor drives an Opel Manta A model SR from 1975 and he drives a Rolls Royce Corniche.
Special thanks to Auto Vogel & Partner AG, Switzerland
www.autovogel.ch
www,borsema.com

[@stanleycarlock5624]

I bought a used yellow and black 1973 Opel Manta in 1976. I loved that car and hated when I finally sold it to buy a 1983 Mazda 626. I sure wish I had one now just like the one in this video. What a beautiful and fun ride!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Thank you for sharing your story about the Opel Manta.

[@rubybrown3905]

This was my very first car bought second hand in 1979. The colour was 'signal red' (more orange than red) with a black vinyl roof. I must say I really loved that car. After this I went on to buy another two Opel Mantas (later editions). For the day the Manta was a fantastic car. This video brought back so many memories - so thank you so much. Chris Brown

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I am glad that I could bring some memories back to you. It was really a lovely car to drive. But it was hard to film this car, because every time I wanted to film the car from the outside, people wanted to talk to me about the car 😁

[@shelbynamels973]

I still remember a review from back in the day. The writer expressed surprise at how gorgeous the front and midsection looked, comparing it to that of the Ferraris of the era, but "they lost their nerve when they got to the rear section, and reverted to trite and true German Opel design cues."

[@DrivingwithGloves]

That is a nice story.

[@g-radm3827]

My first car, my first love. 1971 Opel Manta S. It was stamped “Made in W Germany”, and I always either ride alone, or with a bunch of girl friends 😄. For some reason, they loved to be seen riding my Manta. Gives me goosebumps watching this vid. Thank you so much for sharing this. Brings tons of memories, 70’s all the way to the 80’s.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Thank you for sharing your memories

[@danielleboule3220]

My first car! Great memories

[@sharkamov]

This model Opel Manta was indeed no ''frog'', it was a _boy's/man's_ car (and the _envy_ of everyone else!) My blue metallic (with a _broad_ silver metallic portion covering the aft 3/4 of the roof - coming down the aft window pillars, and widening as it went forward along the sides, giving it an excepitonally unique and lightly _'agressive'_ look!) '74 edition had only the 1600cc powerplant, but the driving was still superb. ('Tight pants' & [black] driving gloves was a must!). Thanks for uploading this little gem Cor! 😉👌. . . . . .

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I thank you for watching!

[@a9323hj]

I had a new 1975 Manta in the States, and also a used 1974 Manta Rallye later. Loved driving them. Thanks for your video.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I thank you for watching it. Please check also my other videos.

[@Skooter-nw3cm]

I love the Opel Manta A. I had a yellow ‘74.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Yes, it is a wonderful car!

[@trevord9811]

My first car was the A model. Miss her.....

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I can immagine. It is a beautiful car!

[@copisetic1104]

In the U.S. the 1900 manta pre 1975 was so successful in showroom stock racing, they outlawed it. You had to run the two door square box. I owed both, some of the best cars I ever owned.

[@calbackk]

I live in Europé, but I have never heard anyone associate Opel Manta A with bad taste (as you say). In my opinion it was and still is a car of very great beauty, so I totally agree with you there. Look at the roof line. Not even Mercedes have managed to get it so right in a car of this limited size.

[@AB-pl1ko]

- I agree with you. As Cor beings up here, the Manta B is the one really associated with bad taste. That is still how some of my European relatives feel. I agree as the B never really 'excited' me (except the Manta 400). When I was little, my parents had this cars more practical sibling, the Ascona A. Another good little car that you seldom see now. While I always like how the Manta A looked, viewing it now, with a more seasoned and educated eye, to me it is just beautifully styled. Without a doubt one of the nicest looking smaller European cars from this era. Such attractive, flowing lines and delicate features. In a way quite 'Italian'. To me, in many ways, the A is almost like a more 'rational' (for the common person) 3/4 scale Fiat Dino Coupé.

[@andreashellwig9863]

Indeed the Manta B had a bad reputation here in Germany 30 years ago, associated to people with bad hair-cuts (as seen), cowboy-boots and low i. q. ... Many jokes were made of Manta-drivers also, for example the shortest one: A Manta is parking on the university's parking-lot... Btw: I owned a '72 Manta 1.6 S in light brown (ockergelb in german) with black vinyl-roof 40 years ago.

[@adrianotero7963]

Always loved the look of the Manta.....came close to pulling the trigger on two.....but never did....beautiful looking vehicle in it's day....

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I totally agree with you. I think in general, that Opel made very good looking cars in that time.

[@drstevenrstanek]

My first car was a yellow 1973 Manta that my parents gave me in ‘77. Originally, Father picked it up at the plant in Germany. Nice little car. Very easy to work on.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

drstevenrstanek it drives still good and I think it is fantastic looking car. I liked the Opel design from that time.

[@leovaughan1902]

Beautiful. I have a manta couple a series and it's my favourite classic car.

[@patrickbouldinkm5l143]

Great video, like others, as a teenager in 1977 my first car was a 1974 Opel Manta Rallye, great memories! I think the serendipity is mostly about the memories, regardless of what took you there!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I still think that the Opel models of that time were amazing. But as you say, it might also be because of the memories which goes along with these cars.

[@tscooter22]

I'm in the USA and a '74 Buick Opel Manta was my first car when I turned 16. It was about 5 years old when I inherited it from my Father. That was a great little car. Better yet, it was very unique. No-one in my HS had an Opel besides my calculus teacher who owned a Kadet. I took auto mechanics in school and I used to do brake jobs and tune-ups for him during class. It never hurts to kiss a little ass with your teachers. heh Anyway, mine had the 5 mph benches... err, bumpers which were huge so I sourced an earlier set from an earlier model. Thanks to my Grandfather's incredible mechanical smarts, this car is the one that I learned the majority of my auto repair skills. A 240z came in a close second. heh

[@dscarty]

Had one, loved it. Just like the copper colored one you showed. Used to bounce the wheel trim rings off of it.

[@callumbailey43]

I live in England and everyday I drive past one of these on my way to school. Its a 1973 Opel Manta SR in yellow and it hasn't left the owner's driveway in about 15 years and its just been left there to rot. If possible I wanna go and save it and bring it back to driving condition and use it for exactly what it was built for. It's an incredibly beautiful car!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I am glad to hear that you are going to save that car.

[@callumbailey43]

@@DrivingwithGloves I am going to try to, but first I'll need to talk to the current owner because in truth, I don't even know if they'll be willing to sell it!

[@frankcarden4709]

​@callumbailey43 did you knock on that door yet?

[@callumbailey43]

@frankcarden4709 yep, knocked on that door a couple of weeks after commenting here. The current owner's wife answered and said he was working on it and was going to start welding work on it very soon and have it sent away to do said work. It has now been over a year and it still hasn't moved at all within that time. It's safe to say that that car is going to stay on that driveway until all that's left of it is a pile of rust and dust, unfortunately. I still go past it daily and wonder when it'll finally be restored.

[@frankcarden4709]

@callumbailey43 sad,some people are like that though, I know of a person that had a few capris and sierras go the same way, to the point that as soon as they tried to move them they literally crumbled,and the same... was going to restore them himself and wouldn't sell. Best of look on the search

[@dankokorin]

My father used to have this in 90's

[@nozislam]

My dad had a Manta A, in Ferrari red in the early 80s, loved it so much and all my friends thought it was so cool. Wish I had one now as a classic.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

It is a pitty you do not have the car in the family anymore. The same goes for me. My father used to have an Opel Admiral, an Opel Rekord Sprint and my Mother used to have an Opel Rekord 1900L Coupé.

[@nozislam]

@@DrivingwithGloves Unfortunately it wasn't in the best condition when he had to let it go, i was only about 5 at the time but still remember it. Not many have lasted and very rare car in the UK. Thanks for the upload!

[@danielgi7254]

My first car, with a corvette sting Ray bodykit

[@jeffreycastillo8386]

A set of 231 grand national pistons & a big turbo , thats all it needs to run great

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Perhaps it would 😉

[@wdfaws8124]

I had a 72' orange/ black hood auto and a 74' red / black hood manual. Not fast by any stretch of the imagination but always a pleasure to drive.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

GeorgeBetty Will ifor me it was also pleasure to drive this green one with black bonnet. It is no sports car to todays standards, but drives still okay. I only missed a fine exhaust note which would help to get the impression that you drive a very fast car 😉

[@OrieCipollaro]

I learned how to drive in this car in the mid 80s in the Bronx New York it was so much fun

[@metalman4141]

Here in the uk the manta wasn’t all that popular and I for one loved that it’s rival the Capri In my eyes just wasn’t a patch on it . I owned several mantas A and B series they were worlds apart in style and comfort one day I can see me getting another A series 1900 sr ...... hopefully

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I keep my fingers crossed, that you will find a Manta 1900 SR soon.

[@Porsche996driver]

My older sister had an Open Kadett Rally in Orange of course! Great video here. I was also in the US Army from 85-90 in Mannheim so know all these Manta’s very well ha! I had some Nackenlanger friends ha.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Dave auf dem BMW great that you are sharing your story. In those days Ooel was a great car make.

[@ronmccullock1407]

Stunning car, I live in England and we got the later Manta from 1981

[@antonioamado8351]

Who is only here for the gloves ?! I don’t even care about cars at all, it’s just amazing see someone driving a car with a regular steering wheel using gloves 🤣🤣😅😅 IDK why but yeah... 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@marc196050]

I had a Orange (red?) Manta Rallye in the U.S. A California car I bought for $300. It was a very good cornering car, but lacked power. Because of inadequate power, I redlined it a lot (had a 4 spd) and eventually blown up the motor. Good times!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Yes it is a great looking car, it drives okay. But it is not very sporty. Therefore a bigger engine would have been fantastic in this car.

[@marvinmurakami8828]

Great looking cars. Frequent winner of SCCA races. One of the first cars to have fuel injection around 1976? Both the rallye and the luxus models looked good especially the luxus in that deep purple.

[@renek243]

Manta looked great but certainly wasn't one of the first cars to have fuel injection in the mid seventies, Mercedes 300SL already had it in 1955 and even though still relatively rare, by the late 60s/early 70s there were quite a few car brands that sold cars with fuel injection (BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Audi and Mercedes amongst others). There were even air cooled Volkswagens for the US market with electronic fuel injection.

[@goratgo1970]

Maybe a European difference, but here in the US all 1975 Manta and Ascona including Wagon had Bosch fuel Injection and larger front disc brakes. They also had the larger Aluminum bumpers as with 1974. The car in this video has a mix of years, like 1972 metal bumpers, hood with both central (1970-1973) and LH-RH (1974-1975) windshield washer nozzles. The dash is 1974-5 with outer vents. I see the Rallye Tachometer in the dash, but not the lower gauge cluster. Also used to seeing headrests for 1974-5. Still nice to see such videos made of Manta A, wish more was demonstrated of the good handling they have.

[@bkbeebe]

How about the sunroof, is it factory?

[@goratgo1970]

Sunroof might be, not sure as none of mine had it. Further, the seat belts, pillar, and the side vents (behind rear side windows) are all '74-'75 type.

[@bkbeebe]

The reason I ask is my son has a '72 and he bought 2 parts cars, one being a '75 Rally. The Rally was much too nice for a parts car, but too big of a resto project for us at the time, so we passed it on. It had the same sunroof, and I always thought it was a shame that someone cut a hole in the roof, but maybe it was original. The car had original red paint with black hood, and the idea of repairing the roof played no small part in us moving it on.

[@goratgo1970]

IIRC some had same kind, but glad mine didn't or don't now as being in PNW would just be a pain in the roof. Have two Mantas, but project is grafting Manta nose to my '75 Sportwagon, and Rover V-8.

[@bkbeebe]

PNW, me too. Small world this web.

[@gwynforddafydd1397]

It was a fabulous car, great lines and curves. very sexy car.

[@OldtimerRescue]

Great video. It was my first car and I loved it. Unfortunantely, this one in your video got that ugly 80th sunroof, what is not original. Good luck with your channel. Kind regards from Germany, Ralph

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Thank you very much for your throughout positive feedback. I had the impression that the sunroof was original though. But pergaps I am wrong.

[@OldtimerRescue]

@@DrivingwithGloves yes, you are wrong. The Manta A was only available with a steel sunroof and not that glas-aftermarket thing. 🙂

[@jontg429]

Subscribed to your channel. You are doing a great job and I can see it taking off, hope it does!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

jontg429 thank you very much!

[@shekijamesha2866]

Manta my frst car ,(14,5 year.)

[@edwardwietrecki9132]

Growing up my neighbor had one which is green that I liked. About 10 years ago I came across one in purchased the 1973 Manta a green which I have sitting waiting to be restored to give to my 11 year old son which he adores hopefully one day I will be able to come up with the money to do the restoration so he could drive it unfortunately right now I don't have the fundsI always make a joke let's put a big block in it and turn it into the race car but he tells me no dad keep it original they're worth more money. The rarity is this car I found out when I registered it it is only one of three registered in Illinois but right now is just being stored on a farm going to pot can't wait to afford to put it on the road to get their reaction from everyone I honestly think it looks like the modern Camaros now and that Buick should bring it back because the design was a a head of its time considering what car manufacturers are doing today

[@edwardwietrecki9132]

Yes sponsors definitely needed to help I need to do my car for my son. Too bad I know it will never happen

[@DrivingwithGloves]

@@edwardwietrecki9132 you never know. I hope you will succeed in getting it restored. But many thanks for sharing your story.

[@Steven91637]

The Mini Chevelle

[@avtomehanikmoscow001]

nice car ))

[@jonminnella4157]

Nice car if I could find one In Canada I would buy one I any condition

[@bendingspring]

Great video👍 very well done. My dad had a ‘74 silver 1.9 berlinetta, I loved that car. Unfortunately, by 86 it was totally rotten in all the usual places & the chassis was especially bad. Very sad when it went to the scrap yard. I’m wondering how much this car eventually sold for & if it was totally restored? Thanks for making & sharing the video & I love the gloves by the way!

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Thank you very much for your kind words and sharing your story.

[@Dethmeister]

I had a metallic green one as my first car. It had some dings and an ugly repaint in one area and some carb issues. I totaled it. Then I got another green one but this one was a repaint and was like a wintergreen green with a white roof and white wheels. I think it had a lot of bondo and I didn't like the color. It ran very well and had an excellent interior though. I wish I still had it but I sold it for a Plymouth/Mitsubishi Arrow. Actually I wish I still had both of those cars because the Arrow was super reliable and looked kind of like a Mustang if you squinted really hard haha. But yeah I miss the Opel the most, really beautiful shape.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I must admit, that I had never heard about the arrow. Perhaps it was not for the European market? I really adore the looks of the Manta A. And it drives pretty well, although the sound could be better. And it attracted so many people while filming, that in the end, I had only 45 minutes to film the driving scenes.

[@DerSnipOr]

Great Video thanks! Opel Speedster and GT would be great to see in your channel as well. ;-)

[@DrivingwithGloves]

DerSnipOr thank you very much.I will try to get hold of these cars in the future 😉

[@DerSnipOr]

Driving with Gloves Please keep up the good work. Your videos are always very detailed and feature real drivers cars! I'm looking forward to see more cars driven with gloves. ;)

[@bridges5659]

Mr. Fake George Clooney ! Lovely car and great presentation. 👍👍👍👍

[@PeterKKraus]

My parents had a blue one of these in 1976. I ruined the trans on a night out partying. They got a Pontiac Astre.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Well that is a pitty. I personally prefer the Manta over the Pontiac Astre.

[@robertmadea9229]

Manta A is very pretty. For me personally model B looks god with tuning

[@ThePianotuner1]

This was my First wer dream...

[@DrivingwithGloves]

ThePianotuner1 It still is a wonderful looking car, which you still could use petfectly in todays traffic.

[@christine4576]

Da werden Erinnerungen bei mir wach als ich 1991 den Film Manta Manta sah . Aber du hast etwas vergessen wo ist der Fuchsschwanz 😂😂

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Das ist der Manta A. Damals war der Fuchsschwanz noch nicht so aktuell.

[@christine4576]

Driving with Gloves okay das wusste ich nicht👍

[@DrivingwithGloves]

@@christine4576 Wikipedia sagt: Besonders in den 1980er Jahren war es verbreitet, Fuchsschwänze an Rückspiegeln sowie Antennen von Autos zu befestigen, typisch galt dies besonders für Opel-Manta-Fahrer.

[@MargauxHemingway]

Beautiful Carl busca you are more beautiful.

[@ThePianotuner1]

I mean "wet "... It was my first day in school 1970 and I couldn't take my Eyes from my First teachers car... orange... black stripes... and shiny from the raindrops falling on the two of us... my god, I wanted to ride this car whenI some day would be a man...and you don't believe what my teachers name was: Andreas Vogel. he was a sort of a Hippie and we were his first pupils after getting a teacher. Latee he teached ne to Play guitar, and he gave ne a lift once missing the bus... Used to my mothers "Käfer" this felt like a racing car... I was very frightened because he cut any curve so I again had a "wet dream",😳

[@Steven91637]

Or mini camaro

[@CaptHollister]

Just so we all understand each other CIH is what we call Overhead Cam, or OHC.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

No it was an engine series used by Opel, between 1965 and 1993. CIH means Cam In Head.

[@tscooter22]

Maybe he was thinking OHV, or over head valves. I had a US spec '74 model and it was definitely CIH/OHV.

[@victorboucher675]

NO - cam in head means that. Not a crossflow, had rockers and lifters. Cast iron.The working mans BMW. They removed the pushrods. BMW is OHC and when they warp, crack (#2 &#3 Ex. ports) or leak oil at the timing case union you get an expensive lesson, which is "what call a F ing pain in the ass".

[@brayansamuelpulidoariza9318]

How much does a 1965 ople cost

[@harryo6126]

Music too loud, beautiful car.

[@mookie714]

so basically, this is the german camaro.

[@DrivingwithGloves]

Not a bad comparison! But the Manta was only built between 1970-1988. The handling from the Manta is very good, but it does not have the power of a V8

[@arnoldlayne9918]

What? The engine alone weighs 950kg!?

[@DrivingwithGloves]

No the whole car. It is a four cylinder engine, but certainly not made auf lead 😉

[@arnoldlayne9918]

@@DrivingwithGloves ha thanks I thought so. 👍

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[@DrivingwithGloves]

I am really sorry, but I have no idea what you have written.

[@antonioamado8351]

This video is sooooooooo awkward...wtf is wrong with him 😅🤣🤣🤣

[@tj-kv6vr]

actually i don't care about your gloves

[@DrivingwithGloves]

I am glad you do not care!