1982 Opel Manta 400 - Early 2 Slot Grill Car - Fantastic Example For Sale

Viewing by appointment only.

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.
We originally purchased this very special car from its previous owner of 20 years in 2015, we sold it to a collector in 2015 whom has had the car for 8 years now.
We are extremely pleased to have this Opel Manta 400 with us for a second time.

Previous owner for 20 years!
Current owner for 8 years!
Original Factory invoice
Original engine
Original ‘black backed’ interior
Original & correct offset wheels (front offset ET23 – rear offset ET3)
All original & correct body panels
Extremely rare car, especially in this condition & with such great credentials


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 & Irmscher at the time.

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

The third owner (a UK Opel Manta fanatic) purchased the car from the Dutch collector in 1995, upon the car arriving in the UK, the owner drove the car 1km & 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 & had light restoration work completed to a very high standard.
No corrosion was present & 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 2015 we purchased the vehicle into stock & after prepping the car, we sold the car to a collector whom has had the car since then as part of his indoor climate controlled collection.

The car will be going through our workshop for a service & check over of course.


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 & is extremely rare), also the originally fitted fibreglass spoiler, of which only 7 were made.

The body has benefitted from a bare metal repaint, which has been carried out to a very high standard & was only carried out due to dull paintwork & 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 & in very good order.

Anybody familiar with these vehicles & particularly these interiors, will know that they are susceptible to wear.
They are also often removed & 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 & centres which have very minimal signs of wear.

All carpets are in good order, with no rips or stains, the original & correct Irmscher steering wheel is still fitted, with again, just small signs of wear to the rim.
All trims are in good order & 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 & put into a rally car (as the engines tend to of had a gentle life being in a road car so is ideal for a rally car in need of an engine) & 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 & positioning of the 2. 4 stamp within the casting of the engine block.
Naturally this still has the original 2. 4 block fitted.

The only non original item that has been fitted is a stainless steel exhaust, which helps make this example sound absolutely incredible – Just like a 80’s Group B rally car should!

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 when we had the car the first time around, we also had the car checked on a dyno/ rolling road & it produced exact factory figures.


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

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

The brake calipers have previously benefitted from a full refurb also & the tyres have only had little usage since being fitted.
The gorgeous & original wheels are unmarked & really are fantastic.

The original Bilstein shock absorbers are also still in place.