Irmscher Man Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I realised today that that I hadn’t posted on here about the new resident. Recently I was lucky enough to buy an 85 Berlinetta hatch, in white gold with 30k on the clock. Older members will remember this car as ‘young gold’ owned by Ian Virco. This is the car that Ian kept the original alloys and tyres for, and yes, they are still with the car. Ian took it off the road a few years ago with a view to restoring it and he started to dismantle ready to work on. As you may know, Ian sadly passed away during December of 2020 and his collection of 19 cars and other vehicles was sold off. This car was one of Mantas that we always associate with him, so I was pleased to be able to offer it a new home at the start of June. It’s in remarkably good condition but has suffered a bit from being laid up for a few years. Steve, the previous owner has done a great job of recommissioning it a it has an MOT again. It’s been to a few meetings already and I even met a guy who knew Ian at a local meeting. I’m busy doing some tidying up at the moment. The Interior is out, both bumpers are in the paint shop and the brakes are in pieces at the moment. A small engine oil leak needs sorting and the the rear end needs checking over, you know what hatch tanks are like. With any luck it will all be back together again for Sywell. hope Ian will be smiling down on us! Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-400 Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 The car looks indeed nice, work well done. My second Manta was also a 1.8, a coupe. Remember I read an article in a famous German magazine those days they noticed the car was accelerating very well and they tested the car on a powerbank. It had 96 Din Hp, the explenation to downsize to the official 90hp was not to shoot in their own feet so the bigger engines kept for sale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmscher Man Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 4 hours ago, H-400 said: The car looks indeed nice, work well done. My second Manta was also a 1.8, a coupe. Remember I read an article in a famous German magazine those days they noticed the car was accelerating very well and they tested the car on a powerbank. It had 96 Din Hp, the explenation to downsize to the official 90hp was not to shoot in their own feet so the bigger engines kept for sale. Thanks Herman. When I was 18 I bought my first Manta, which was a 1985 1.8GT hatchback in Black. I did some mild tuning on that (new cam, Weber Carb, ported head etc) and it was much faster than a standard GT/E. The interior was the same as this Gold hatch (which also has the original FM Stereo) so it really is like reliving my youth. I was out driving on my own coming back from the local monthly meeting at the pub last week and I had a massive smile on my face. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo3000 Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Good and sad at the same time..what happened to old gold...does anyone know😢 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Basically two completely different cars. 1.8 manta hatch Vs 2.0 manta coupe. Couldn't be more different......... Both very good, capable car, and have their usage. Great to see this wee hatch alive and ticking, enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo3000 Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 (edited) Just now, ®evo03 said: Basically two completely different cars. 1.8 manta hatch Vs 2.0 manta coupe. Couldn't be more different......... Both very good, capable car, and have their usage. Great to see this wee hatch alive and ticking, enjoy. Yeah fully aware of the two cars in question mate and i totally agrree with your comment 👍😎 i was just wandering what happened to old gold in the end😕 Edited July 4, 2022 by evo3000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmscher Man Posted July 4, 2022 Author Share Posted July 4, 2022 10 hours ago, evo3000 said: Yeah fully aware of the two cars in question mate and i totally agrree with your comment 👍😎 i was just wandering what happened to old gold in the end😕 I think Old Gold went with a consignment of other cars to someone who was looking at restoring some of them. Fingers crossed it will turn up again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmscher Man Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 Well I managed to get the gold hatch back together in time for Sywell and now the dust has settled, and we’ve seen all the pictures, I think we can all agree, it was an amazing weekend. It was a shame about the wind on Sunday, but I’d rather have that than a narrowboat in my tent. The Hatch even won a trophy, that’s one’s for Ian. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooker Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 (edited) You’ve got it looking very smart indeed, any idea how many gold Berlinetta hatches are left? - is there another on the road? Edited July 30, 2022 by Trooker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmscher Man Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 On 30/07/2022 at 09:09, Trooker said: You’ve got it looking very smart indeed, any idea how many gold Berlinetta hatches are left? - is there another on the road? I think there are 3 or 4 left in the club, although this was the only one at Sywell. It’s funny because it was my least favourite colour when I first got into Mantas, I even took a white gold GTE hatch out for a test drive in 1990 and turned it down just because it was gold. Now I kinda love it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooker Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 59 minutes ago, Irmscher Man said: I think there are 3 or 4 left in the club, although this was the only one at Sywell. It’s funny because it was my least favourite colour when I first got into Mantas, I even took a white gold GTE hatch out for a test drive in 1990 and turned it down just because it was gold. Now I kinda love it! I loved the look of a brand new gold coupe in approx ‘83 but as time went on somehow it didn’t seem like a “cool” colour… funny how things go full circle, I’d certainly have a gold manta now! 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 Can't think of a modern car, in gold. Must be a retro thing. I had, and still have a 1.8 hatch, with a power increase, same block but 2.0 16v. 🤗but it couldn't have been more different to any other manta I was used to.... Coupe, and CIH. Different, unique, Opel couldn't have made it any different, still a very nice classic car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooker Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 1 hour ago, ®evo03 said: Can't think of a modern car, in gold. Must be a retro thing. I had, and still have a 1.8 hatch, with a power increase, same block but 2.0 16v. 🤗but it couldn't have been more different to any other manta I was used to.... Coupe, and CIH. Different, unique, Opel couldn't have made it any different, still a very nice classic car. I couldn’t resist having a quick search as I thought I’d seen a kinda champagne Lexus 4x4 not so long ago but it turns out there’s a much nicer modern gold out there https://www.alfaromeousa.com/cars/giulia/quadrifoglio/gallery 2.0 16v hatch sounds like fun, is it a redtop? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmscher Man Posted August 3, 2022 Author Share Posted August 3, 2022 That Alfa looks nice in gold. I was out in the Gold hatch last week and followed a gold Nissan Micro and thought then, how rare it is to see gold cars nowadays. Is it a bit of an ‘old person’ colour now? Bloody hope not! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 On 02/08/2022 at 22:53, Trooker said: 16v hatch sounds like fun, is it a redtop? Sure is: one for the hatches 🤗 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooker Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 1 hour ago, ®evo03 said: Sure is: one for the hatches 🤗 Yay! 🏎💨 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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