Where have the mantas gone?

[sumpcracker]

Hello,

Last year I managed to buy a mk1 cavalier coupe a 76 car in yellow, then had to promptly sell it due to loss of space.
It sold on here (i think it went for racing)

I now have lots of space and have had a look about for another cav coupe or early manta b coupe project.

I cannot find any on ebay, p heads, car and classic or any of the usual.
The ones I have seen are very expensive, but sold.
I know kaddets and asconas have recently shot up in price, but have mantas done the same?
Are people holding out until they find their price?

[g40jon]

only ones ive seen for sale have been 5k +, they were pretty mint examples though

[ChasR]

Indeed, cheap now they are not. A friend of mine has a real hankering for Manta As and almost bought an XE converted car. If anyone knows of a Manta A for sale LMK .

OTOH I shall admit there was a time (it seems not all that long ago!) where Mantas were almost everywhere!

[richardgte]

id love a manta a and id get rid of my 3.0 manta b for one

[Nozza]

Have a 1973 Manta a in the shed waiting for me to start the resto, been on the back burner since the house move and arrival of the bairn. cannot see it going much further downhill as its not been ran since the 90's

first post, just been reading for the last 18month or so

[DavidB]

Don't pay over the price for a rotbox or a modified mess, there are still good ones out there cheaper than £3k. Cavalier coupes and Asconas are cheaper if you can't find a Manta.

[1900sr]

Early Manta B and Cav Coupes are very rare now, the Cav Coupe was only made for about 3 years before being replaced by the Sportshatch, and the Manta B only sold in small numbers in the UK until the facelift for the 83 model year. I think they sold around 5000 Cav Coupes in the UK, and around 18000 pre facelift Manta B coupes and hatches. My guess is there's less than 100 Manta Bs left,with around 20 of those being hatches. There's around 200 Manta As left in the UK as a best guess.

[1900sr]

ChasR, Manta A for sale on autotrader www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201149433452008/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/opel/page/2/postcode/cv49hp/radius/1500?logcode=p

Ah, just checked, it's in Northern Ireland, still could be an interesting road-trip for anyone from the Mainland.

[sutty2006]

A lot of early mantas have either been scrapped, bangered, or (like me) are still sat in the workshop awaiting re-commissioning. Sumpcracker, when you put that early cav up for sale I was all ready with the wonga to buy that as I need an interior for mine. Just a shame it went for banger racing and more than likely that rare as hens teeth interior went in the skip.
Ive even got contacts in holland looking out for an early B interior for me. I'll travel to anywhere to get one!

Hopefully my 1987 Red hatch will come back out when the salt has dissapeared off the roads..... not wanting to loose my chassis rails over winter, you know what they're like!

[Deleted]

2 of the Manta B`s (well, more like 1 and a half....) are in my garage ;D As is 2 Ascona B`s, and one Ascona A Theres a seriously lush Manta B Berlinetta in that lovely green metallic colour for sale on a norwegian sales site, about 3000 pounds...

[welder]

Quite a few have gone to Ireland. They're quite sought after over there. The later ones tended to dissolve quicker due to poor steel being used in their constuction. I know where there's a mint i200 for sale but it's in France and it's not too cheap.

[mauricewalsh]

Dec 25, 2011 19:18:58 GMT welder said:

Quite a few have gone to Ireland. They're quite sought after over there. The later ones tended to dissolve quicker due to poor steel being used in their constuction. I know where there's a mint i200 for sale but it's in France and it's not too cheap.

as someone from southern ireland I can confirm your statement.. indeed most mantas for sale in england have reached our shores,, I personaly know of 4 in the last 2months in my area alone, the love of manta's here runs very strong and any that pop up for sale here reach very high prices.. but in saying that of the 4 I know of 2 are Bs and are to be built for historic rallying.. an original 400 that came to my area last year now takes pride of place in a large and undriven collection in heated accomadation,, the manta runs deep in irish rally circles.. dare I say as equal to if not exceding mk1 and 2 escort in deadication to marc and heritige to the cognacenti of the irish rally peeps.. some left handed manta have come here an at any expence have been converted to right hand drive..... such is the need/want for the manta here........ personaly I'm not a fan..... audi quattro.s being my rally weapon of choice.. iv owned 4 URs over the years.. hope this answers OPs tread as to where all the manta,s have gone.........

[sumpcracker]

Yes mantas have seen a rise from £1500 to £4000 in about 18 months i think.
I saw the ascona b's rise and bought a pair of LHD 2 door cars, i planned to sell them on but they ended up staying in storage in poland, just as well as they have seen a mk2 escort style price hike.
I can see that mantas are all going to be more than i want to pay now..

[CIH]

I recall before the big crunch in 2008 prices were on the up. IIRC there was a slight lull but seems they're gathered pace again.

[ontheway]

i didnt realise they were beginning to be worth proper money like mk2 escorts! my dad will be interested (had a white manta b GTE brand new lol)

[cavman]

I tried to sell my Cav coupe about 6 years ago (I was mega brassic, wouldn't dream of selling it now). I had it up for £1200 and got no takers. It was almost mint, low mileage..... no interest at all. I always thought hey simply played second fiddle to Capri's and therefore, outside of rallying circles, had no great following. I guess I was wrong! No idea what it's worth now, but as I say I'd never sell so I guess it doesn't really matter.

[blazerteam]

Dec 25, 2011 19:01:01 GMT @madmaxx said:

2 of the Manta B`s (well, more like 1 and a half....) are in my garage ;D As is 2 Ascona B`s, and one Ascona A Theres a seriously lush Manta B Berlinetta in that lovely green metallic colour for sale on a norwegian sales site, about 3000 pounds...

This one?

[blazerteam]

Theres at least 5-10 manta B around here where i live..around 1990 there was at least 50..

[1900sr]

Just to add when I'm talking about Manta B numbers in my earlier post, I mean pre-facelift cars (B1) rather than including the 83 model year on cars (B2, or C as the OMOC tend to call them) and just within the UK.

[Lopez]

Mine's in my garage in need of plenty of welding!

Looks a bit "Mad Max" at the moment.