Vehicle Owner

Member ID: Aardvaark

Location: Des Moines, IA

Vehicle Info

1973 Opel Manta

Bragging Rights

  • 1/4 Mile0 sec @ -1 mph
  • 0-600sec
  • Top Speed-1mph
  • HP-1
  • Weight-1lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • nitrous
  • bore increase
  • port and polish
  • supercharger
  • extrude honed
  • stroke increase
  • engine swap

Ratings

    • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.

Login to rate

 

Parts On eBay

Last updated: Jul 27, 2008

Hits: 6,746

Mark’s Opel Manta

  • Currently 3.225 /5 Stars.
10 guestbook comments

Today and my 'New' 1975 Manta. 38k miles and mostly original.
Ziebarted when new preserved it very well.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
The current fleet.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Trunk A/C evap.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
I added hot rod A/C and cruise control.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Previous Opels and other cars.
1973 Opel Manta Luxus with aftermarket AMC in dash AC.
Ran many autocrosses with it from 1973 to 1975.
In days before helmets were required!
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Solo 2

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


SCCA Solo 2 Nationals 1973
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Iowa Ice Solo 2
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Lowered for street

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


1975 Opel 1900 Ascona
Blackhawk Farms 1977 SSB
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Mid America Raceway SSB 1976
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Solo 2 DM

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


SCCA DM Solo 2
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Middiv Solo 2 1978

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Retired from racing and doing
tow duty for my SSC Opel Isuzu.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Towing my SCC Rabbit.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Oops! Missed corner.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
7x13 Borrani steel wheels and race rubber.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


3yrs SSB, 12yrs Solo2 and tow duty,
and 140,000 miles without an engine clutch or tranny
problem. Sold to relative for work car.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
First ever SCCA Solo2 Nationals
at MAR St. Louis Mo.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Woo Hoo, I won on the ice!!!
Winter 1974. Little Wall Lake, Iowa.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Parents 1972 Ascona 4dr automatic.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
Friends Opels:
Freds White 1971.
Russ's Red 1972.
Richards 1975 Ascona.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Some of my other past cars:
1965 Karmann-Ghia 1500S (TYPE 34).
First car I autocrossed.
Koni Shocks, rear camber compensator,
Dunlop 165/15 radial knobbies.
Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
1970 Ford Failane 500.
351-4V Cleveland. 4spd. Posi.
8x14 Steel wheels and early BFG T/A's.
Koni shocks all around. ADDCO F&R swaybars.
Lakewood brakes.
Second car I autocrossed.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta


Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta
1985 CRX-SI Autocrosser.
Koni's all around, disconnected FSB.
DOT street tires for AS,CS then DS.
SCCA couldn't decide what stock class
to put in in and moved it around. Typical
SCCA politics.

My 1960 Plymouth Savoy and 1955 Studebaker Commander V8 3/4 Ton.

Aardvaark's 1973 Opel Manta

Guestbook

Displaying entries 1-5 of 10

Aardvaark  

Posted by: Aardvaark

10/21/2009 07:40AM

Opelhippie.Sounds like we raced in the same time period.I ran mostly midwest at Road America, Brainard, Mid-America (St. Louis), Blackhawk Farms, And the old Dallas-Fortworth Airport.Those were the days!

Opelhippie  

Posted by: Opelhippie

09/27/2008 03:39PM

Beautiful! Your Opel life mirrors mine. I started autocrossing my Opel GT in 1977. I bought a 1975 Opel Ascona and raced it at Charlotte, Rockingham, and Road Atlanta as SSB way back in 1978. I won the SE 1978 regional championship . I built a 1973 Manta and raced it as a GT3(then GT2) from 1981-1983. I had the national SCCA pole at CMS race in the July 1983. With two laps to go...leading the race...I blew a right front tire and crashed big time...The great Manta was burned to a crisp. By 1986 I was building Opel Isuzus to compete in ITC. Not a REAL Opel but for its class it was a killer. I won several races in it and my wife won 20 points paying races with it. I say "it" but we crashed/totalled at least seven Isuzus. I still have two for sale if you know of any buyers.(at this time...Cheap. With spares)

Aardvaark  

Posted by: Aardvaark

09/18/2008 05:47PM

Pvt_Strong Congrats on finding your Manta Luxus. These Opels are getting pretty hard to find. For parts, Rockauto.com still carries some mechanical parts as does NAPA and other parts stores. But often I deal with http://www.opelgtsource.com for hard to find stuff. They are great to deal with and if they don't have what I need can usually point me to someone who can. Also I suggest you sign up on opelgt.com which is the best internet Opel club for all models. several people on there have parts cars and I've bought from them also. Body, trim and interior parts are becomming nearly inpossible to find in the states except used. http://www.dr-manta.de/eng.htm in Gremany has the most for Manta's and gives good service but is hard to pay for orders since he only takes bank transfers and cash. But at least one person on opelgt.com who lives in the Atlanta, GA area has a German bank account and will do the money transaction for us for a very minimal cost. If you have any questios, feel free to email me at kramraap@msn.com but be sure to put the words Opel in the subject line so I know it isn't junk mail.-Mark

Pvt_Strong  

Posted by: Pvt_Strong

09/18/2008 05:22PM

Hey i am just got a manta luxus and was wondering if you could tell me where i could find parts for it.

Doubl3T  

Posted by: Doubl3T

07/27/2008 09:51AM

Beautiful manta, keep up the good work. 5 stars.

Show Older Comments

Post a comment

Bookmark this Ride

Vehicle Owner

Member ID: Aardvaark

Location: Des Moines, IA