Back in 1971, I had a brief stint working as a trainee salesman at an Opel dealership in Dublin.  The showroom was in an old and formerly grand street in the city centre.  Most of what we sold were Kadets and an occasional Ascona.
There was a gorgeous Manta in a metallic blue centre stage on the showroom floor on the day a good percentage of the ceiling fell down - the Manta was covered in dust and no damage that couldn’t be brushed off was suffered - except for the roof.  A few large chunks of ancient ceiling left quite an impression and a difficult to restore finish.
Solution was to do the best the body shop could - then slap on a vinyl roof.
Not nice but the car was sold at full price PLUS the price of an optional vinyl roof  
It you bought it, now you know  
I don’t know why the Manta didn’t outsell the Crapi 3-1

The Manta went right under the radar when it was on sale, such a good car.

There was an Opel  garage on the corner of the street where I grew up as a kid in Kings Lynn, walking to school I used to take a look  in the showroom  window  And there was a beautiful, yellow and black Manta

Opel Manta A! Build in my hometown Bochum Germany. 😍

My dad had an Opel Manta A in the early 80s when i was a kid, exactly that colour. I loved it.

My 72 Rallye Manta is one o my favorite cars that I’ve owned. Yellow with a blacked out hood/bonnet.

I had a series i B Manta ,the girls loved it ,until my mate crashed it into a lamp post in ice

I know this car. It was owned for years by a guy called Mick Hallahan who lived in Louth. I have owned several A Series Mantas and when I got to know Mick I was building a V8 A.

His car was totally standard and immaculate. The guy suffered a heart attack and passed away in the late 90s/early 2000s and the car vanished for a while.

He was a nice guy who slightly disapproved of me modyfying them but soon warned to the idea when I took him for a blast in mine. 😂

It's great to see his car resurface and go to good owners. 😊

I used to have a yellow one of these back in the 90's.

Whoever designed those back lights, I wanna go dig them up and give them a big hug!

The farm owners near us were Opel geeks. The parents had a Commodore, and the son a Manta, which held up remarkably well to the brutal treatment it was given!

Mig welding with bare arms 😮

It still had the rust spray off the radiator on the inside of the bonnet 🤫

I had,a friend who owned one 45 years ago. He couldnt get it running correctly.
Turned out it was a Bleidenstein tuned one. Very rare. Bet he wishes he still had it!!!

That engine wanted a head skim & gasket, it was still blowing water when it returned for auction.

Anything with the Yorkshire car restoration team is always going to be good.

"The screwdriver of truth"! 😂

Had a 1972 SR yrs ago and wish i still had it!. looked great and drove like it was on rails . The 1.9 engine blew up so fitted a 2.2 ltr and the 5 speed gearbox and injecjion system from a crashed GTE.  Still remember the reg CMR 45L

The couple who bought it seem to be good stewards . Lucky them ! 🙂🍻

I used to own one in Yellow and a previous owner had fitted a Webasto folding sunroof.. go too fast and it would automatically unlock and fold back!

Kept it for about nine months then migrated onto a B series GT-E, much niceer overall.