Sale Pending!
- Seller: Dale D (Contact)
- Location: Buena Park, California
- Mileage: 71,000 Shown
- Chassis #: 0L77ND9139164
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 1.9-Liter 4-Cylinder
- Transmission: Manual
My local library system has held an annual used book sale for decades, and it’s a rare year that doesn’t find me in attendance. As a kid, I came upon a musty stack of Car and Driver magazines from the early 1970s, and at the going rate of something like five cents a piece, I brought home several of them. I learned a lot about the zeitgeist of the motoring world back then, including a term I had never heard before: Super Coupe. Car and Driver applied that label to the Mercury Capri, Toyota Celica, Mazda RX-2, and even the Pinto and Vega GT. But the winner of the “Super Coupe Comparison Test” of December 1971 was the Opel 1900 Rallye, because it had “that Good German car feel that [had] always cost at least a BMW 2002 price before the Rallye arrived on the scene.” Fast forward a couple years and you have this 1974 Opel Manta Rallye, which had the same goodness of its predecessor with its European name added on for good measure. This Manta has fresh paint, no rust, and only 71,000 miles on the odometer. The best part? It’s looking for a new owner. Located in Buena Park, California, it’s being offered for $17,950 as a Barn Finds Classified.
One of the only qualms Car and Driver mentioned regarding the Opel was that it was a “few horses low on power.” Sure, 75 horsepower isn’t a lot, but it was also pulling around just over a ton of German Super Coupe (sold by Buick, of course). This one has a Weber carburetor along with a fresh tune and an oil change. The seller has included pictures of the commonly rotten battery box to show how solid this particular car is (in addition to several undercarriage shots). It’s so solid because it’s always been a California car, purchased new and owned for decades by the same person, a young woman who bought it for her commute to her job at the Hollywood studios. When she passed away, her mechanic bought the car, before eventually selling it to the current owner.
The interior is mostly original, with a little wear on the upholstery and three “small cracks” on the dash pad. Aside from that, the radio works, the clock works, and it has the original Rallye gauges. As you can see from this photo, this car has a four-speed manual, which is clearly the only way to equip a car with the name “Rallye.”
The “Rallye” model received some suspension upgrades in addition to a blacked out hood and special stripes. With its wide 15-inch “Revolution” wheels, fresh two-stage “Opel Rallye Gold” paint, and bumperless physique, it certainly looks as if it’s ready to attack a special stage or two. From this rear three-quarter angle especially, this is a beautiful little coupe (apparently designed by a team led by eventual GM design vice-president Chuck Jordan). There aren’t many Mantas out there to buy, so if you’re in the market for a car that Car and Driver highly recommended when it was new as the best of the super coupes, this one’s a beauty.
Where are the BUMPERS??? Why oh why would you do that?
If you’ve seen the big ugly bumpers they came with, that’s why…
Yes, the Federal “bash beam” bumpers that came standard starting in 1973 in front and 1974 in the back, certainly didn’t do the stylists any favors, that’s for sure! When fuel injection came standard in 1975, it made the cars better, but in true GM fashion, just when the cars were hitting their stride, GM pulled the plug.
I know what it came with. And it looks ridiculous without them! It always looks ridiculous when you remove such an integral part from any car!
’73 had the small bumpers,the big bumpers
started in ’74.
certainly a very pretty car. even better sans bumpers and with the front spoiler and air ducts. some rallye’s came with high impact colors, but this original copper was both flashy and classy. super popular cars in Europe because they are so light and handle so well. this would be a great pick for driving on curvy mountain roads………… most have rotted away from the lightweight metal, so this is truly a find. “Honey…..can i have another toy”?
Yup! Certain cars imo look better without the bumpers. One off the top of my head would be 1967 and 1968 Camaro. After you remove the bumpers, you’re still left with a very nice flush clean body line. Of course you have no protection against anything and a minor front end collision will destroy the nose of your car, but it looks so good!
I think they look so much better with bumpers than without. It’s one thing to remove them for functional purposes, say to make the car loo lighter for rally racing, etc. But otherwise, the car looks perfect with the bumpers.
I don’t like the big Federal “Bash Beam” bumpers, but the thin chrome versions on pre-1973 examples, were a nice accent. I’d have tried to find some of the pre-’73 versions instead of just stripping the bumpers off completely, but that’s just me. Of course, good luck finding them, LOL!
Nice looking car, good color combination nice wheels.
Steve R
I believe that California’s vehicle code requires (at least) a front bumper.
Good excuse to get pulled over.I really like the pre-’74 Rallyes.the big
bumpers don’t look good on the newer ones.
This is one of my favorite good looking cars ever.I had a chance
to buy a Yellow one years ago for $75,but passed as I had too many cars,
not enough money,or both.
This is not a stock color.I wonder what color it was originally?
For the most part California has given up giving fix it tickets, except for the CHP writing up expired registration, due to their funding coming through those fees. They won’t even respond to traffic accidents unless there is an injury even if one of the drivers doesn’t have a license, current registration or insurance.
Steve R
This is the inside of the trunk. The paint may be a shade or two off, but it looks original.
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/74-Opel-7-e1745369640595.jpeg
That trunk brings back memories! Under the spare tire was a rubber drain plug that could be removed to drain any water that collected in the spare tire well if the trunk weatherstripping failed. We used to remove the spare tire and the plug, fill the spare tire well with ice and a case of cheap beer, and go party on the beach! Our “go to” brand of beer was something called “Red, White and Blue” beer, $2.99 for a twenty-four can case! This predated the return of bottle and can deposits, so no luck there, but now that bottle return deposits are back, you could buy the beer in a “no deposit” state like New Hampshire, and return the cans for a refund in Massachusetts and offset some of the cost of the beer! At five cents a can, the deposit would knock another $1.20 off of the price of a case!
Red, White and Blue – I remember that swill – cheap as hell, so appealed to us college kids. We did the same thing – buy in NH, return in MA.
And, I did the same thing with the jack storage compartment in a 70 Corvette – pull the drain plug and had an accessible 12 pack cooler.
Thanks – I remember that Copper color.
There’s one for sale on Facebook Marketplace in
Queenstown,Maryland for $3000.It’s Metallic Green,
which,to me,looks great,but it’s an automatic.
Do you have a link to that one?I want to see if it’s the same color green as my 1972 1900, the Plain Jane sister to the Manta.
Look up Queenstown,MD,& put in “Opel”.
I’m not much good at posting links.
Oy vey, well, I suppose if Pawn Stars has taught me anything, anything virtually nonexistent today, is going to cross that “collectible” line to someone. Before Asian cars rallied to the cause, the Opel was one of the imports that actually had some clout, thanks mostly to its Buick roots. I doubt they would have been near as successful as a stand alone make. It amazes me something so mundane and ubiquitous as an Opel Manta, bringing 5 figures. Opels were 5 figures cars back then, they just had a decimal point for cents. I’ve had several Opels, all good cars, certainly far better than any Asian car at the time, too bad the US consumer didn’t see it that way. That, and Buick dealers didn’t really care for them. Dealers claimed they stole sales away from traditional Buick buyers, and horror stories from disgruntled owners surfaced, similar to Capri with Mercury dealers. Not many bought a 2nd Opel, or a 2nd Capri for that matter. They were great commuter cars, but not a highway car. Great find.
American manufacturers never did figure out how to market imports. Or maybe they didn’t want to. BTW, I did buy a second Capri.
I owned a ’69 Kadett 1.9L with automatic transmission back in the mid 1970s. The car had a definite Jekyll and Hyde personality, as you could love it one day, hate it the next, then fall in love all over again on the third day. That car was the best handling vehicle I ever owned, even with bias ply tires, but it was also the car that taught me (and the neighbors) how to condemn in German.
Schweinhund! Dumbkopf! Wer hat sich dieses Narrendesign ausgedacht?
My Mom carpooled to work with one of the Engineers who worked in her office and he called Opels: “Hitler’s Revenge”, LOL!
These were very nice handling cars with the Rallye package. The wheels on this one are a nice touch. Unfortunately (back in the day) Buick Service was a disaster for Opel. GM should have recognized this and created Opel specific service centers. It baffled me why people didn’t seek out independent garages for service. Technically there wasn’t anything magical that most shops couldn’t handle.
I always loved the body style of these. A local guy a few years ago installed a small block Ford in his. It was a killer at the local autocross.
A great car, but $17k? Really? If someone had told us that these would be selling for over $17k in 2025, we would have checked them for needle tracks in their arms! My brother and me both owned one back in the eighties when we were both college students, mine was a 1972 1900, with dealer-installed air conditioning, baby brother’s was a 1974 Manta Rallye with the Weber swap replacing the factory Solex carb, both four-speed manual transmission cars. His had the Federal bumpers (bad), but the Weber carb had a manual choke (good). The automatic choke heated by engine coolant in the factory Solex carbs tended to leak coolant. In 1975, these got Bosch K-Jetronic CIS fuel injection before GM pulled the plug on real Opels in America, and sent us “Opel by Isuzu”, starting in the 1976 model year instead. Yuck.
Well, if you gotta drive something… No, really, I like this and lot.
Is this article missing a link to more photos? You guys usually require your sellers to provide a bunch of photos, and 4 of them isn’t going to cut it for the asking price of this one.
I see 25 photos and a video. Maybe refresh your browser?
I see them now, but they definitely were not there early on.
Now, it looks more like a BF listing, which are always well done.
Oh boy, the memories. My best friend in high school 50 years ago had one – red if I remember correctly. It must have been a pre-74 because he didn’t have the big bumpers. Had it jacked up a little on air shocks and some bigger meats on the back with slotted mags. I had a screaming yellow Vega GT. He smoked me every time we lined up at the stoplights. I had him by 20hp but he was so much lighter. And I remember his clutch was so much tighter and he would jump off the line
$17k ??? Very nice car but $17k is way to much cash for this Manta. Pass on this one.
@ 19Tiger65 I agree. I don’t think even the nicest Opel is worth more than $10k.
My buddy had the twin to this car, same color inside and out, stick shift. His granpa gave it to him and it was as clean as this one. A left of center drive hit us, totaling it out, both of us were ok. Nice cars.
Aaron, I remember the write ups these Opels got in Car and Driver in the early seventies. They loved this car. The handling was so much better than the other “Super Coupes” it more than made up for the lack of horsepower. This is a nice example of that time period done up in a modern motiff. BTW, it looks much better without those big ugly bumpers!
Car&Driver had a love/hate relationship with Opels in the ’70s. They loved the Manta, but the poor Kadette wagon was shown at the entrance to a junkyard and described as the bland junk that the feds wanted you to have.
I liked the Manta but it was about $500 more than the ’73 V6 4-speed Capri that i bought instead. Supercoupes were great!
It was that kind of material that made me want to write for cst magazines. I got my shot in the z’90s and later just as paper journalism kicked the bucket
What bothers me the most is why we didn’t have many Opel models to choose from. We had the Opel Manta, the Opel Kadett, and the Opel GT. For some markets you could’ve gotten an Opel Admiral, an Opel Diplomat and the Kapitan. So why the hell didn’t we get those models?
Been searching for years for a nice one but he needs to remove a zero from that ask. I’m imagining how cool it would sound with a small V8.
Good luck finding anything nice for 2K.