Stunning Original and Extremely Rare Opel Manta 400 *SOLD*

This fantastic Opel Manta 400 is now Sold.
Are you looking to sell your high quality Classic Car?
Contact Appreciating Classics

A unique opportunity to purchase a very special car.
A Genuine. early '2 slot' Opel Manta 400.

'2 slot' being the fact the early cars had a grill with only '2 slots'. these are much rarer than the later '4 slot' variants.

Last owner for 20 years!

Original Factory invoice
Original engine
Original ‘black backed' interior
Original and correct offset wheels (front offset ET23 – rear offset ET3)
All original and correct body panels
Never had any welding
No corrosion


History
The original owner. was a gentleman in Belgium. who purchased the car from his local Opel Dealer who was the main agent for Opel Sport and Irmscher at the time.

Within the history file. are pictures of this vehicle at the Opel Homologation meeting in Russelheim. and is pictured with famous Opel rally drivers Jochi Klient and also Walter Rohrl along with the original Belgium owner and his daughter.
The owner sold the car on in the late 1980′s to a Dutch collector.

The last owner purchased the car from the Dutch collector in 1995. and upon the car arriving in the UK. the owner drove the car for 1km. and put the car in to storage for 14 years! Although this may sound crazy. the buyer had many other Opel Manta's. including other 400′s.

In 2010 the car was brought out of storage and had light restoration work completed to a very high standard.
No corrosion was present. and no welding was needed. it was simply a case of giving the car a fresh lease of life – we have pictures prior to the light restoration.


Body & Paintwork
A rare find indeed….

All body panels are original. and un damaged.
Every piece of the wide arch kit has the correct Irmscher stamps in place. as does the front skirt (which was fitted by the supplying dealer upon release and is extremely rare). and also the originally fitted fibreglass spoiler. of which only 7 were made.

No corrosion is present on the car at all. anywhere.

The body has benefitted from a bare metal repaint. which has been carried out to a very high standard and was only carried out due to dull paintwork. and the odd small mark – not due to corrosion! (Pictures present which verify this).

A truly stunning car. dare we say. a wide arch Opel Manta 400 is one of the best looking coupe's ever made?
We certainly think so!


Interior & Trim
The fantastic original ‘Opel Blitz' interior. with black backing (later '4 slot' models had the grey backed interior) is still fitted and in very good order.

Anybody familiar with these vehicles and particularly these interiors. will know that they are susceptible to wear. and often removed and fitted in place of standard interiors. in variants which do not have the ‘Opel Blitz' interior as standard.

The seats in this vehicle are still in very good order. with strong bolsters and centres which have very minimal signs of wear.

All carpets are in good order. with no rips or stains. the original and correct Irmscher steering wheel is still fitted. with again. only small signs of wear to the rim.

All trims are in good order. and the interior as a whole represent very nicely. especially considering the age of the vehicle.


Engine
Many 400 road cars had the injection system removed. and carbs fitted in place.
Whilst this does show significant power gains. it also removes from the originality of a 400 road car. as such. making this vehicle all the more special with it retaining the original fuel injection system.

What has also happened to some of these vehicles. is that the original engine removed. and put into a rally car (as the engine has had a gentle life being in a road car so is ideal for a rally car in need of an engine) and then a non original 2. 4 block/engine. or even a 2. 0 block put in to the road car.

This can be identified by the sizing and positioning of the 2. 4 stamp within the casting of the engine block.
Naturally this still has the original 2. 4 block fitted.

Also worth noting. is that the correct stamping is in place on the airflow meter. as these meters have a different calibration to the standard GTE airflow meter.

We have had the engine checked by a well known tuning specialist. and the car was also checked on a dyno/rolling road. producing exact factory figures.


Running Gear
As you would expect. along with the rest of the car. the running gear. and also the underside of the car is fantastic.

Correct Limited Slip Differential is still installed. along with correct and original anti tramp bars.

The brake calipers have benefitted from a full refurb also. and new tyres have been fitted.
The gorgeous and original wheels are unmarked and really are fantastic.

The original Bilstein shock absorbers are also still in place.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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