Longtime barn finder Rocco B. sent us this cool 1979 Manta Mirage kit car find that is listed for sale here on craigslist. The car is currently located in Meritt Island, Florida. Unlike a lot of kit cars, the Mirage is actually a custom-framed car built from the ground up as a mid-engined performance machine. Okay, except for a few things we’ll talk about in this post.
Manta was in business from around 1974 to 1986, with the company never changing hands from the brothers Brad and Tim LoVette that founded the company and designed the Mirage. Obviously an unabashed copy of a Mclaren, versions were produced in both coupe and open form. The wing on this one is an owner add — I have seen most without wings and never with one this large and far forward. The yellow paint has some rough spots, especially around the rear, but is presentable enough for me and will undoubtedly still turn heads.
The rear of this car seems to have been cut away for some reason. Here’s a link to a Jalopnik story about one that was for sale about a year ago so that you can see what the rear should look like. By the way, although it looked nicer, that one was listed for sale at $25,000. No word as to whether it sold or not.
Okay, it’s still a kit car. Somehow I would have tried to figure out some way to use at least a prop rod for the rear bodywork other than a 2×4.
The interior is where the kit car part of this car really shows up. Not only is it not a plush design, the upholstery is, well — horrible. And that’s a rigid fiberglass dash. But remember, this is a mid-engined car that is V8-powered and weighs around 1,900 pounds for the price of a used Miata. When you are driving it, though, remember that the front suspension came from a VW Beetle. No, it’s not a Beetle pan, but that is the front suspension origin. I hope the disc brakes on the front are large! The pads, lines and master cylinder have been recently replaced, along with the clutch hydraulics and the steering box.
This is a 1969 327 Chevrolet V8, with a new carburetor. The radiator and fans are also new. I’m sure the car is quite quick, and you could have a great deal of fun while you improved the cosmetics over time. And if you are wondering, the Mirage uses a Kelmark conversion of a Corvair transaxle in order to put that power to the ground. So what do you think about this imitation Can-Am car? I like it!
And he’ll get that number, too. These kits have a fanatical following. The interior upholstery.. well.. that’s actually just thrown in there. In reality it would have been glued to the seat forms and the interior walls, providing a much cleaner look. It looks like it’s led somewhat of a rough life. Some pieces missing but nothing deal breaking. Lose the wing, the high-rise air cleaner and clean up the interior and run the thing!
This is pretty cool. I just know if I was trying to look at the last gauge on the right while driving there is no telling how many lanes of traffic I would cross or trees I’d mow down.
@RoughDiamond.
The gauge on the far right is only the fuel gauge so you wouldn’t need to look at it TOO often. Even if it is a kit car, I like it.
Considering the engine, and depending on the size of the fuel tank, you might want to glance at the fuel gauge a bit more often than normal.
Looks like it came right off my old AFX slot racer track…minus the plastic pin on the underside of course. How would that transaxle fare with that 327?
How many times did you have to pick it up at the curve and reset it on the track? It had to be a fast mover.
Corvair transaxle used regular Chevy gear box innards and are plenty strong.
This gets my stick straight…..thumbs up.
The wheels alone make this super-awesome. If I already had a stable full of supercars, I’d refurb this with modern guts and a professional interior. And lose the ridiculous wing.
I wonder where you store the 2 x 4 when you are driving? Cool head turner for little dough!
It doubles as the front sway bar…
“Thatz funny s*** right there, I’ll gaurantee it!”– Larry the Cable Guy
Is this car even street legal, with no front or rear bumper? Not my cup of tea, but I’m glad others are enjoying it! For $14K it seems reasonably priced.
It is street legal with Antique tags which allow it to operate as it was originally
First order of business is to seĺl the wing to some kid for his Honda Civic.
It would sell quick. It would go great with those ridiculous sounding tailpipes they seem to be enamored with. Too much binge watching of Tokyo Drift.
I agree. Buy the car, and on day one remove that monstrosity of a wing.
This car showed up in a coupla’ (quickly cancelled) TV series’ …just before and during the Magnum PI era.Gotta figure your chances of a second season are not good if your budget for an “exotic” gets you this puppy. No level of top notch acting / appealing characters will save you…if your “star” has to pull up in a overgrown go-kart.
Hardcastle & McCormick
This car is right up the street from me – I see it all the time in his driveway – if anyone is serious and wants and close up info let me know – I have never stopped to look as it really doesn’t appeal to me.
Had one and that 2×4 is actually half of the matched OEM set. Very useful when attempting to traverse a dip whilst not leaving portions of that long fiberglass nose and other body parts scattered about. Holy sh*t batman fun to drive tho
I’ve looked into these cars quite a bit. There are several different versions of these — this is one of the early ones as it uses front suspension came from a VW Beetle..the later ones used a Mustang II front suspension. I ended up buying a Lotus Elise instead of one of these for several reasons. First off – it’s my understanding (from talking to folks who have owned them) that the cornering/handling of these cars is shockingly horrible. Secondly, the Corvair transaxle is not very strong -especially if doing a quick takeoff in 1st gear – not to mention more poor handling problems. Third was the lack of A/C — which of course you could add I suppose. And lastly was the lack of safety features like airbags that the Lotus has. At the end of the day these seem like cars that LOOK really cool, but simply do not perform very well. Plus the thing is going to suck gas like crazy – I get 29 or 30mpg out of my Lotus. As for this particular car — $14,000 is a pretty darn good deal. The interior can be straightened out for small amount of money. It needs some body work done to it – perhaps a whole new rear clip – and I assume he’s missing the top/doors for it too but there is a place you can get those from. As long as that windshield is a real DOT glass one and in good shape I think at $14,000 there would still be plenty of meat left on the bone to fix it up real nice. Ones in good shape can run up to $35,000. If it was me, I would swap out the front suspension and get a ZF 5-speed transaxle for it. Problem is to get this thing to run and handle the way I’d want I’d be into it for way more than it’d ever be worth. Plus that carb/air cleaner hanging out the back like that needs to go – need to change things around so it can driven i the rain — and there appears to be no windshield wiper mechanism either. Still – at $14k and a few thousand bucks worth of tinkering you could have a nice looking, sunny day only car to take to car shows and such. Someone will snag it up quickly for that pice.
I always liked the red one that appeared in the McCormick and Hardcastle
tv series.
That was my first thought as well, but when I looked at the car on Google, it looks quite a bit different.
Don’t quote me on this, but I think that was a Coyote, not a Manta.
It was a replica of the McLaren M6 (Manta Montage) this car is the M8 (Manta Mirage). Both were made by Brad and Tim Lovette of Manta cars. The Lovette brothers actually had a hand in making the originals for McLaren racing. I have one now and debating on building or selling.
Was gonna say that Hoghead, but you beat me to it! And for the love o’ mike
lose that damned wing! It does nothing for this poor car except screw it up.
I wonder if the 2×4 is standard issue
Buyer should put “McClaren” on back so people can laugh harder at them. Proof read article please
I’m always up in the air with my feelings about replicas/kit cars. This one is a few steps above a VW pan wrapped in fiberglass but also somewhat below a properly engineered vehicle. It reminds me of the time I bought a partially completed 1922 Dodge Brothers “lakes roadster” hot rod. As I was trying to complete it I asked myself, how was I going to drive this? No top, door locks or windshield wipers. How could I just park it at the mall or in the parking lot at work? Not to mention how horrendously dangerous it would be in a collision, honestly death would be imminent! So I sold it to someone else. Who did complete it but also asked if I would like it back. I wisely declined.
Worked with a guy who had one in the early 80’s. After several Corvair transaxles shelled behind his pretty stout 350 sbc, he went to a 455 Toronado engine and transaxle. Good lord, it was even scarier than before…….
The handling problem was due to the fact they centered the transaxle and the engine. The transaxle has a 1 1/2 ” pinion offset so the engine is cocked 1 1/2″ in the chassis, which binds up the rear suspension and can wear out the rear tires in 500 mi. Once this is corrected the handling is transformed.