Jump to content

Joe's 1975 B coupé


laz
 Share

Recommended Posts

Thanks for this James.

Louis has a contact at Opel and he got the information on the build date from the factory records. Sadly they aren't complete and apparently they don't know the chassis number of the first production 'B', so the fact that those for my car survived is very lucky.

Louis knows of another B registered in Holland on 19th November 1975 which has a chassis number 24000 later than mine, so they were turning a fair few cars out. What isn't certain is if Opel used the chassis numbers sequentially on all models (ie Kadetts, Mantas, Asconas etc) or if this is all just Mantas.

However the 'Das Opel Manta Buch' gives the total Manta production for all B models in 1975 as 38723 so that suggests the chassis numbers were used for whatever model they made, not just Mantas.

Looking at your list, all those cars (I'd checked KRK 548 P a few days ago but not any of the others) are possibly now gone as the newest date of liability is from 1992. Of course they could all be laid up in storage somewhere awaiting restoration.

It's all interesting stuff.

Cheers,

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just thought id add to the early manta stuff. My newly aquired b series coupe came up as this

Date of Liability 01 02 1990

Date of First Registration 12 05 1976

Year of Manufacture 1976

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1584CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour GOLD

Vehicle Type Approval null

And the vehicles either side of the reg

MRM 21P

Date of Liability 01 06 1988

Date of First Registration 12 05 1976

Year of Manufacture 1976

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1196CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour BLUE

Vehicle Type Approval null

MRM 23P

Date of Liability 31 07 1994

Date of First Registration 04 06 1976

Year of Manufacture 1976

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1897CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour TURQUOISE

Vehicle Type Approval null

By the looks of it alot of the earlier B series mantas havent been on the road for around 20years!

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

Drift on!!!!

OMOC 6081

SP_A0218.jpg

Recovery work taken. Email for more details

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I hate to say it but the lists of 'unlicenced' early B's you are getting, most will have been scrapped! Don't forget is wasn't until the last decade or so you didn't have to make a SORN declaration. Before this time someone could scrap a car and either just leave the car in their name throwing the logbook away or the scrap dealer takes the logbook and doesn't change the details because it wasn't necessary then. There's going to be thousands of registered 'unlicensed since 1990' cars on the DVLA's records which really have been a cube of steel for years!

Anyway, nice looking car there Joe, the colour looks a lot nicer in your pic than it did on the ebay ad. I hope what you mean by 'no modifications that aren't reversible' includes swapping the 1.6 with a 2.0 fitted with a GTE head! Face it, as it is you'll be overtaken by wildlife and no manta should have ever been fitted with the 1.6 engine in the first place! The beauty is, it'll still look original with the 2.0 and it's still reversable[8D]

newbana.jpg

CHECKOUT MY V8 VIDEO HERE http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Djuq2xoCp1E

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lack of room was because I suddenly found myself with four Mantas Pete. I'm down to just two again now (the A's are gone) and I only had the hatch when I bought this one.

As to modifying "NOOP", well I'll hopefully have sufficient performance from the hatch, so, as the driver of a Berlingo van (1.9 diseasel, non HDi or anything), I'll bet the 1.6 will still seem fine.

If I can get my head around driving an auto without dying that is.[:I]

Cheers,

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread has got me thinking! Could mine be one of the last B's in the UK? I remember seeing a red ' X plated ' B at Billing but most later B's seem to be on a W plate. Interesting.

billing07008.jpg

Black SRB Coupe

Black BMW 325i Coupe

Scudo 2.0TD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have I had your car's details for the Register yet James?[;)]

Hi Jim, yes I couldn't resist it I'm afraid. Please give my regards to John and "Tony" when you see them. I sent John an e-mail a few days ago asking for the chassis number of the car as I'd not kept a record of it but he's not replied yet. If he could let me have it, I'd be most grateful. I should have thought to make a note of it before I sold it.

Thanks for your help.

All the best.

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There aren't many X plated cars about, I know of Cavtastic's, James', that black coupe that was for sale recently on the forum, and I also know of a black hatch, although I don't know where it is now. It was sorned last time I checked, WKP10X, anyone know of it's whereabouts?

omoc 5660,Cambridge & The Fens Area Rep & keeper of the A register.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I can go back to the older examples for a sec. We were in hope that the DVLA's last date of liability of some of these cars didn't mean the date of it's demise. Well I put the details of the Mk1 Cav on ebay at the moment in the DVLA site and got this:

The vehicle details for PCV 304R are:

Date of Liability 30 07 1994

Date of First Registration 01 04 1977

Year of Manufacture 1977

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1897CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour YELLOW

Look - it was last heard of in 1994 (14 years ago) so there is still a chance that one of the very early cars still survives!!!

Yes I will restore them dear. No you can't have the garage for your new freezer!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When your checking these details on the dvla website, do you think its fair to assume that any that show a date of liability greater than 1998 but more than a couple of years old then they are probably scrapped?

Mt reasoning for this is that my vehicles that are sorned for years show on up to date liability. If you don't keep your sorn up to date then you get prosecuted by the dvla so it makes sense they should have a date of liability less than 1998 or within a year or so of now..

(On this basis my old i200 got scrapped in 2004 [V] )

Edit to the above, its just been confirmed my i200 WAS scrapped in 2004 so there you go, an easy way to tell if a car is scrapped or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi joe,

restored a 1.6 manta a few months ago, it is fun to drive, it wouldnt spin the wheels in a fit, not even in the snow, its still got its 4 speed box and you can get up to 4th like a wrc rally car, just bang, bang, bang and sit back and enjoy the ride, it pulls really well too, which really surprised me, no easier on juice than a 2.0i though.

where is your b register?

mine is yellow, 42k from new, registered 13.10.1978

chassis number, 5985152166, it was CAT918T but re-registered BTX 308T

when i was restoring it i noticed a date stamped on the tray where the main dash sits (roughly under the two vents) it was 3.1.78 first day back after the new year) and the front axle 28.1.78.

some pics on projects and gallery

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Brady, Thanks for the details. If you could let me have some contact details too, I'd be most grateful.

The Register is an attempt to let the club keep a record of all the surviving Manta Bs in the UK. It's on a card index at my house (you can't keep it on a PC for data protection and security reasons). There's a similar one for the A Series (which we suspect may actually be more numerous, surprisingly).

Cheers,

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi James, the exact details I need are your contact details, the reg, chassis number, model and colour of your car. If you want to include the engine number, that would be good too.

Thanks very much.

Cheers,

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:When your checking these details on the dvla website, do you think its fair to assume that any that show a date of liability greater than 1998 but more than a couple of years old then they are probably scrapped?

Mt reasoning for this is that my vehicles that are sorned for years show on up to date liability. If you don't keep your sorn up to date then you get prosecuted by the dvla so it makes sense they should have a date of liability less than 1998 or within a year or so of now..


id="quote">id="quote">

I've just bought an Ascona; DFH 744T. It was "active" at Swansea when a new V5 was issued in 2007. It's showing on DVLA as liability May 1997. I guess I'm saying that the tax info is not a sure sign of the cars demise, and my Ascona has surfaced from a garage nearly 11 years later in generaly good health!

They're still out there to be had, never lose hope!

Forumwheel.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we'd better have the Asconas too if everyone is happy with that. Please let me have the details folks.

Cheers,

Joe.

Please log into this site from the Home page folks. It helps to keep it as the first Manta site listed on Google.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Refering to James and the late B reg dates, i used to own a B coupe, reg number XRY 133Y, In bronze, last saw it about 8 years ago in Oxford, dont know if it survives now or not, but it was very late for a B.

chrisb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 16 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...