![]() The finished Mirage usually weighs in the neighborhood of 1,900 pounds, making them a pretty serious performer if equipped with anything better than a standard SBC truck motor. Bodywork consisted of hand-laid fiberglass with doors that flip forward and a small, race-style cockpit. Manta’s chassis was fabricated from a mix of round and square steel with A-arm suspension up front, and coil-over IRS in the rear. While many kits of the 1970s and 80s aren’t known for engineering prowess, Manta’s tube-frame cars were engineered well with decent chassis triangulation and suspension geometry. Most cars were assembled with Chevy small blocks and used a transaxle from the Corvair. Originally called the Manta Can-Am, the Mirage was designed to be a super lightweight car for the track and the street using predominantly Chevrolet parts. The Mirage was the first product from Manta Cars, founded by Brad and Tim LoVette in Costa Mesa, California. The Manta may not be perfect, and might only hang on to street legality by the loosest definition, but it’s damn good car when you consider the fact that it was designed to be built in your garage. It has radical Can-Am looks but comes with a title for the street, giving you a 110-percent chance of confusing the heck out of your neighbors. I hope that I’m wrong because for all of its faults it is quite an attractive little car.The Manta Mirage does everything a proper kit car should do. On the face of it the price of this particular example is probably a little higher than it should be, but for me the work required to rectify that rust under the car, along with bringing the interior up to scratch just seems to me to be a bit more than I would want to take on with this car. The Opel Manta wasn’t imported into the USA in huge numbers, so finding them for sale today is becoming more difficult. Looking around the engine bay reveals a few corrosion spots (including on the hood) which may indicate that this Manta has seen its fair share of wet environments. ![]() Apparently, the original Solex unit died, so it was more economically viable to replace the standard unit with a Webber downdraught carburetor. The only real deviation from standard revolves around the carburetor. The seller states that the car runs and drives well. Under the hood is the 1900cc engine, and in this case, it is backed by an automatic transmission. The door trims and the remainder of the interior plastic trim appear to have survived okay. The car has been fitted with an aftermarket radio/cassette player, but the original radio is included in the sale. The front seats will need new covers and the dash has several cracks in the pad. The top of the rear seat is badly sun-rotted, while the headliner is also torn. The interior looks generally like it has copped its fair share of UV rays over the years. This sort of rust would make me give the rest of the underside of the car a very serious inspection. This is not the sort of work that should be carried out by an amateur as improper repair will have some serious ramifications in the event of an accident. This is where the front sub-frame bolts to the car and this really must be addressed, and addressed properly. This is the big ticket item when it comes to rust on this Manta. In the US, an Opel Manta Blue Max model was sold in 1973, which was effectively a blue version of the Luxus, with the addition of a blue vinyl roof and mechanical sun roof. There is also some rust beginning to appear under the battery, but most of this should be able to be addressed fairly easily. The Opel Manta Luxus model was sold from 1973-4, with blue or burgundy coloured interiors including corduroy seats and wood style panelling. ![]() There is rust just beginning to appear along the lower rear quarter panels and in the spare wheel well. The car looks nice and straight and presents really well. The claimed mileage is something that I would hope that can be verified. The original owner traded it to a dealer in Iowa who retained the car for an extended period without ever driving it, and the current owner purchased it off that dealer. The seller claims that he is the second owner of this car, but by my reckoning, he is actually the third owner. There must be some interest in this car because at the time of writing there were 67 people watching this car on eBay. The seller has set a BIN price of $3,500 on this Manta. Located in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, it is offered with a clear title. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay. It is a clean looking car, but it will require some work to make it immaculate. This 1973 Opel Manta has reportedly only traveled a genuine 31,000 miles.
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