In addition to moving the brand further upmarket with a model above the Insignia saloon, Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke has voiced his desire to bring back two of the company’s sportiest-looking models of yesteryear: the Manta and the GT…
While Opel’s work on a premium model that will slot into the range above the current Insignia is currently under way, of far more interest is the company CEO’s desire to reinvent a brace of sporty models.
In a recent interview with German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, Stracke stated, “I can easily imagine a car similar to the Manta but with modern technology and a new design”.
Released in 1970, the rear-wheel drive Manta was perceived to be a dynamically and visually dramatic departure from the firm’s more run-of-the-mill offerings at the time and a foil to the iconic Ford Capri. Later B and B2 series models saw the Manta make a name for itself in motorsports, most notably in rally-homologated Manta 400 guise in the early ‘80’s.
Stracke, who was a Manta owner himself, pointed out that Opel gathered many fans and built a strong reputation in motorsports thanks to models such as the Manta. He also stated that he could “certainly imagine” a reborn version of the company’s striking 1960’s GT – not a re-hash of the Lotus Elise-alike Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220.
Such a model, if given the green light, could lift a number of visual and technological cues from the company’s Flextreme GT-E Concept. This concept was revealed at last year’s Geneva Motor Show and a range-extender hybrid that incorporated a small-displacement petrol unit augmenting a lithium-ion battery-fed electric motor.