Take a 1988 Opel Manta GT/E Irmmscher Exclusive and throw away the old pig-iron 2.0 litre 110BHP standard Cam-in-Head (CiH) lump. Then shoe-horn in a 3.5 litre Rover V8 complete with Lucas fuel injection, marry it up with the existing Bosch electronics, use the Rover 5 speed manual box, make a hybrid Rover/Opel prop shaft to get all the grunt to the rear wheels, add a set of Hedman headers and a custom exhaust system (single pipe outlet so as not to give the game away, beef up the front with AVO adjustable shockers, black-up some old 15" Compo CXs and that's a sure recipe for a 193BHP street sleeper. And because it's a V8 it's also a twin-cam and 16 valves...

I used to own a 140BHP 2.2 CiH which was dropped just 40mm, so all the remaining suspension bits are ready to be swapped - rear AVO adjustables plus a full set of springs. There's already a sump/prop guard so I'll have to be pretty careful how low she goes.

Other mods include a pair of Irmmscher 400 mirrors (already fitted) and a very nice 400 bonnet (fibreglass, scooped, vented + meshed) on rams.

As for a sound-system, who needs one when you've got a sweet-sounding V8. Just put your foot down in 5th gear on the M-Way and she's got enough torque to put a smile on your face.

There's no plans for more mods yet, the stock-look, hidden power scenario is just perfect for watching the faces on smug challengers...

20040803 - I'll be digging around for some other pics of the V8, I'll post here as soon as I can...