Opel Manta B 400 – Technical ViewĬompared with the Group 4 Ascona, the Group B Manta made full use of Kevlar body panels the front air dam / fascia, front wings (fenders), bonnet (hood), doors, rear arches, boot (trunk) lid and rear spoiler – this saved about 70 kg (150 lbs) of weight over the Ascona. Since 1981, both the Group 4 Ascona B 400 and the future Group B contender, the Manta B 400, had been developed simultaneously for use in the World Rally Championship and other rally series.
Opel’s use of a conventional rear-wheel drive production car would however make it almost instantly obsolete to the bespoke Group B competition. In mid-1983, as part of GM’s continued international motorsport branding effort, Opel officially made the transition into Group B from the Group 4 Ascona B 400 with its upgraded sister car, the Manta B 400. Notice: Any form of duplication methods (including but not limited to copy/paste of text and screen capture) of the website's content is strictly forbidden. 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.RALLY GROUP B SHRINE WEBSITE TO CLOSE DOWN - READ MORE! Published on: 17:56 Originally Published in: 2014 (old website) The only non original item that has been fitted is a stainless steel exhaust, and the car sounds absolutely incredible – Just like a 80’s Group B rally car should!Īlso 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. Naturally this still has the original 2.4 block fitted. This can be identified by the sizing and positioning of the 2.4 stamp within the casting of the engine block. 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. 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. Many 400 road cars had the injection system removed, and carbs fitted in place. 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. In 2010 the car was brought out of storage and had light restoration work completed to a very high standard. 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. The owner sold the car on in the late 1980’s to a Dutch collector.
#Manta 400 for sale drivers#
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 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.
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