Opel Manta 400: Group B Rally Homologation Legend | Carfection 4K 

In Germany,the Opel Manta is a cult car. There were the popular Manta driver jokes and even 2 successful comedy movies about Manta drivers in the early 1990´s. The Manta was the sportscar for the working class,who couldn´t afford a Merc,BMW, Audi and definetely not a Porsche,but wanted something different than a VW Golf. Back in the day,before the JDM trend came over,the Mantas were the Nr.1 Tuner cars in Germany. The Manta in the late 80´s/early 90´s was what the Supra became in the early 00´s. People use to put big turbos on their Mantas or swapping out the engines altogher and some guys even dropping V8´s in them.I knew a guy,who had put an Audi Quattro inline 5 and a bigass single turbo in his Manta,pumping that thing to over 300 PS.They used to do all kinds of crazy modding on these cars back in the day, because they were very sturdy build.

i wish Opel would still be this awesome brand they were back then

Wow, I didn't expect this video from a non-German channel. As an Opel fan I appreciate it.

I was a race horse jockey in my early 20s driving like a race car driver from track to track to beat the clock to get into the Jock's room in time to be able to be legal to ride my mounts. iIdid a lot of ZOOOOOMING down the interstates in my Manta. I owned two of them...first was silver...the second maroon. Great memories!

Group A and Group B produced the best road going racers and some of the best racing/rallying we have seen. Lot to be said for homologation specials.

We love you Hairy Snatchpole!!!

What a truly beautiful car...My first car was a used beaten up blue 1979 Opel Manta 1.9 Litre and then finally I managed to get the Opel Manta GTE in white...oh what days they were...

Forget that Drivetribe gubbins... this is the channel for those who love cars. Many thanks as always to those involved.

I've owned a few cars in my 30+ yrs driving and I can honestly say that the one that brings back the feeling of cool is my old opel manta. Had a mk1 which didn't have the flared arches, spoilers and twil lights but had a far cleaner and pure shape to my eyes. Mechanically it was a very simple car but with that coupe shape, frameless doors and 5 spoke factory alloys was so sexy back then and always reminded me of the unobtainable Ferrari Daytona in Miami Vice.

Opel Manta, one of my dream cars in terms of looks and rwd combo. Thanks for the video !

I’m very pleased with the fact that Carfection puts out real content. Not just hype pieces for modern cars.

Took me back many years holding my dads in the forests of wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 in the pouring rain. Just waiting to hear that sound

It's so unapologetically and gloriously 80's, love it.

My first car in 1998 when I was teenanger in Poland. Still have it and one B1 as well. Love them.

"Mechanical Flatulence" would make a good band name.

Henry P! You have found a niche, full of sexy classical cars with a biig following. This car was from my youth, I know the very brave guys who rallied them in Denmark and Europe. This version is so beautiful, raunchy exhaust note and beautiful to look at. Bravo!

Brilliant Henry brilliant! More required please..... 👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I used to own a Manta 400 replica done in the Bertie Fischer Shell livery. It was originally yellow with the irmscher stripes on the doors. Had c30se running gear. Such a good car.

LOVE videos on unique cars like this, thank you

Genuinely love to see one in person proper rwd car from a proper era

I LOVE THIS CAR !!!

I love the unique content we get to view on this channel 😍

Memories, beautiful memories.....

The dad of a school friend had one of these and it was my first taste of rallying... in the raw. I revelled in the chance of a passenger ride. Happy, heady days. Thanks Henry!

It is awesome Henry! I love classic cars and this video exposes a great example! Regards from Portugal!

As a youth I owned a white GTE and absolutely loved it. At 54,000 miles I sold it to my brother, but the crap i had to drive in meantime - Astras, Cortinas etc - meant that I bought it back 30,000 miles later. What a great car.

The background music keeps making me think theres someone jingling keys outside my door ...

My dad had an Opel Manta - he loved it

The Manta just looks so... right. I still love it.🙂

I know the feeling, I love my Ascona B :D

Henry is always smiling when driving it is expressing more than words!

Wonderful video. Thank you!

Fantastic video. Brings back memories when cars had to be driven! No electronics or computers in sight. Wonderful!

I always loved these as a youth, the "thinking mans Capri!" I would love to own that one or an Opel Royale, great vid, thanks.

Thank you Henry for this video excellent

As a Manta enthusiast, I thank you for this video. You don't see a lot of decent content for them in RU-vid, or anywhere else for that matter.

Never heard of a manta until this video . Now I’m glad I did !! This is an amazing car !!!!!!

I had 8 mantas over the years always wanted a 400, even a replica would have done .

A lot thanks!! Big video for MantaMania!

I owned the latest Opel Manta with the Irmscher trim before it was replaced by the calibra. Was an A registration too. It was an absolute pleasure to drive. The paint was called Starmist Black. Metallic very dark grey that looked black. Gorgeous.

More of this pls such a joy to see!

Magnificent video. How lovely!

What a great piece on an iconic car ... driven by greats such as Brookes, Ari Vatanan & Henri Toivonen

That is one cool car! Don’t you just love the 80s? I certainly do.

Ow what a beautiful looking car I remember when I was a lad always loving the look of the mantas great days they went well too

Unexpected video but more than welcome I used to always fancy a manta back in the day never got round to it though , so its nice to see a perfect example driven by Henry :)

The opel manta: the car I've only observed from a distance and already love.

Great car, great presentation, makes me feel involved in watching this. Very good.

I remember my 1984 Opel Manta 2.0 GTE Coupe with great fondness and wish I'd kept it. I just remember it handling so well, cornered like it was on rails and went like a rocket. It was a real head turner, as when I owned it there weren't many still left around.

I'm so lucky to have lived in the same area as a Manta owner, got to see one every time I popped to the Shops, it too had the Widebody Kit and looked spectacular!

I very much miss my Opel Manta GT/E, booted, not hatchback, and white of course! I think it was a 1984, which I owned from around 1991-1994. Loved the long doors, especially with the widows down :-)

finally some one who appreciates the opel manta. loved the coupe inparticular ,it struggled at the time as it was up against the all new hot hatches. great review thanks

My favourite car of all time. My Dad had a Silver i240 (D600 DFK), and a white i200 (C888 VWD). My brother had B600 OEA the white i240 press car for the UK 👌

A lesser known icon. With the same shutlines as all other 80’s GM products.

One of my absolute all time favorite cars of the day😍😍😍😍😍

There was a Manta 200, too Great looking car!

My boyhood dream car....I went to see Jimmy McCrae in the Andrews heat for hire Manta 400 a few times in the 80's...fabulous !

Great stuff. Miss my many Mantas!

yes! please consider a series of Henry driving all the GrB cars (hmgl specials and stage prep'd).

Very nice! 400 is a dream. Opel Power

Great video Henry. Still remember the Andrews heat for hire from watching as a child

Great vid, Henry. LOL @ the 'Nankang' chirp

Use to have one of these when I was 18. Brilliant car.

Woooo! I has an Opel Manta, then an Ascona, both 2lt. Flimsy plastic indeed, those penny flap vents were legendary.

Stunning car cant get out of my head the presenter reminds me of big cook little cook

Henry this was a very nice presentation, thank you. I was curious to watch a review of the stock car. There were around many "standard" Mantas converted to "something like a 400" back in the '80s, some of these with the engine stroked at 2.7 lt.

Great stuff to see 👍🏻

I seen one a driveway once in black. What a unique car! Beautiful

Always wanted one of these when i were a lad ... good vid.

Nice one. I wish I still had my (bog standard) 1979 Berlinetta fastback. A great car.

Henry catchpole deserves a spot on Top Gear

Always loved the Opel Manta.

I always loved the edgy look of the Manta 400. This car is truly beautiful, the wide body, the wing, the wheels, colour... wonderful! I'd give it a bit more power though.

Great vid. Still an awesome looking car.

Simply masterpiece 🔝

Fantastic video, brought me back to my days in the 80’s driving a hot hatch. Today’s cars are amazing, but the connection to the driving experience has been lost.

Awesome! someday my own Manta will be as nice as this one

My first car was a black -86 Manta GSI. It´s the car I wish I never sold. Had great fun driving it specially in the winter time.

Just beautiful. Nothing more needs to be said

More rally legend videos please. Ari MkII Escort McRae Subaru Carlos and the Corolla Juha and the Peugeot Great vid 👍

I hope you make more videos like this :)

There's a white box arch 400 about four miles from me sitting in an open sided barn with a beetle, a moggy with hand controls and only 700 miles from new,a fwd triumph dolomite which despite the muck and being out there the longest has survived better than the rest by some margin,what remains of a dark blue Manta A,,a Brooklands Capri and a MK4 and 5 cortina,the mk4 Cortina has a wooden kennel and a big trenching bucket on its roof.There is literally a covered pile of rust in their front garden that was once an MGTF,There are some large brambles completely engulfing a crashed mgb and a rotted MK2 fiesta and in the garage is a Rover 100 in quite good nick.All these cars apart from the Dolly,Capri and Rover are returning to earth unfortunately and all are firmly not for sale,I've sadly watched them deteriorate over the years while walking my dogs.

Lovely classic.

Goosebumps!

I had five ,the penultimate was a exclusive coupe that I dropped a dohc 16v calibra,motor in mated to the getrag 1.8 gearbox legend ..in the day the engine swaps were easy like the six cyl 3.0 Monza ,the 2.4v6 frontera .and 3.5 rover v8 .nessarcary because the standard GTE was only 110 bhp .but it was its chassis that really was its finest point.unsung hero of the golden years of rallying ..

I had a GT/E back in the early 90’s with a few minor tweaks here n there. It took on some of the hot hatches like the Astra GT/E but I wanted some thing a bit more nippy so went for a MK1 Golf GTI. But I always loved my Manta GT/E and still miss her to this day & would have loved a 400.

I'v always had a soft spot for the later generation of the Matas. I was in my teens when they came out and they just seemed so sporty and cool at the time. I remember as time as pasted, they gained a reputation for being very prone to rust. Seemed kind of ironic considering how plasticky they looked. Nice to see one being reviewed in a positive light for a change. Have to say, Henry Catchpole has become one of my favourite auto-journalist. He has a very honest, but not abrasive way of describing the subject matter and a very unclutered way of conveying what he is getting from the car. He seems to genuinley be enjoying the different characters offered by different cars.

I had a 2.0 GTE, did 100,000 miles in her .. never went wrong, unbreakable engine, over square and chain driven cam. Mate had one with a ford essex in it. Wasn't as quick as the GTE. Wish I still had it!

Irish legends McHale and Fisher drove these animals in the circuit of Ireland

Just an amazing car😊👍

What about Ari Vatanen in a Manta on the Manx rally scaring his co-driver !! Amazing!

I had a manta 1.8s berlinetta as my first car

Henry n Chill

I miss my Manta.

This Car hit different

You lucky git! THE BEST LOOKING CAR EVER BUILT...for me, bar none. My dream car man, especially with those twin FIFTY webers. PS: They were knocking out nearer 300bhp towards the end when they really started pushing them. The last 'Heat for hire' car was also accidentally left in an acid bath too long which meant it was referred to as 'The bendy bus'.

An early memory of one of my best mates (before I knew him), was seeing him drift his Manta Coupe 2.0i round a wet roundabout a couple of times trying to impress a girl. He still reminisces about that car, resplendent in its 400 regalia. Sold it to a bloke who wrote it off 😢

I have so much love for this car. Definitely needs throttle body's though.

Manta Manta!

The Ascona 400 was homologated to group 4 regulations,therefore 400 built to comply. The Manta 400 was homologated to the later group B regulations,which only required 200 cars built. Just a correction on the beginning of this video.Lovely car,and a great review.Loved the Manta.Had a standard one myself👍.