It smells of engine oil, wood, rubber and worn leather. In the classic workshop at the Opel factory in Rüsselheim, paint and chrome sparkle, legendary GT models, victorious racing cars and economic miracle cars like the Diplomat line up close together. A digital radiator grille shines in between. It belongs to a poisonous yellow Manta A from 1973, the biography of which is in a lot of confusion: Built almost exactly 50 years ago, the Opel engineers put a kind of Manta of tomorrow on its wheels with it. No half-baked retro model and no half-hearted reinterpretation, but a radical conversion based on the original - and of course fully electric.
Officially, it was a project with which the Hessians wanted to find and defend their identity among the 14 brands of the Stellantis family. It is not for nothing that Quentin Huber from Marketing names the radiator grille stylized as a »Vizor« as the starting point for the work. It has been the new Opel face since the Mocha, inspired by the original Manta and, as a digital display, takes the next step in development, explains Huber, while winking advertising messages flicker across the front of the old-timer.
The management in Rüsselsheim not only uses this Manta for self-discovery, but above all as a driver of wild rumors: Sometimes CEO Michael Lohscheller stirs up hope for a new, then naturally electrically powered Manta, sometimes a member of the project team suggests that Opel has a conversion kit for old mantas or at least support old-timer owners with corresponding projects. And above all, the message sounds like a mantra that the brand with the lightning is now taking off electrically - even if Stellantis does not have a dedicated electric family like the MEB models in the VW Group or the E-GMP at Hyundai and Kia and the upcoming hopeful Astra is only offered as a plug-in hybrid instead of a pure electric drive.
It fits into the picture that the drive for the Manta does not come from Mokka-e or Corsa-e.
The engine is bought in as well as the 27 cells of the 31 kWh batteries that are installed in the rear of the car, as the makers meekly admit.
All of this does not detract from the fascination with a first trip with the car, even if the journey through time begins in the stationary car.
Even before reaching for the ignition key fills the awesome hall with a cool silence instead of the warm rustling and pounding of a sleepy four-cylinder, the eye falls on the instruments.
A black wall behind the steering wheel is where colorful graphics suddenly flicker across the screens built in instead of the analog clocks, known as the “pure panel” of mocha.
But with all the digital booth magic, the Manta cannot and does not want to hide the fact that it is an old car - with manually adjustable mirrors, window cranks - and the original mileage on the digital speedometer. Because with a touch of sincerity, the time travelers from the classic workshop programmed the 55,143 kilometers from the first life of the donor vehicle into the new system. In addition, the Manta is one of the few electric cars to have a manual gearshift. Yesterday also sends its regards - even if you can't stall an electric motor, of course. So you disengage, shift into first gear, lock the clutch and only then step on the gas, uh, the accelerator pedal.
Where other vintage cars like to stutter and chatter when starting cold, the Manta GSE hums as quietly as a whisper and as smooth as a normal electric car and provokes factory security after just a few meters. After all, there is a strict speed limit in here, which the Stromer tears effortlessly and, above all, unnoticed: Instead of the 105 PS of the original GTE sports model of yore, there are now 108 kW in the data sheet and the 255 Nm of the electric motor, which was difficult to imagine at the time, are the first second off.
But the factory gate is not far, the barrier opens, and because the renovation has even received the blessing of the TÜV inspectors, the hybrid journey through time can continue on the road.
The Manta cruises through Rüsselsheim in a relaxed, casual and, above all, quiet way.
Thumbs are stretched out towards him everywhere and the camera phones click every second.
"In my wildest dreams I would not have expected the feedback to be so overwhelming," says Opel boss Lohscheller, summing up the reactions
At the gates of the city, the Manta swings through the curves even without power steering, making it a real pleasure.
Because despite the batteries in the rear, the Opel does not feel overweight, bulky and sometimes numb like many modern electric cars, but as light, delicate, even filigree, as is usual with old cars.
"With all its charm, the conversion is first and foremost a clever marketing campaign," says classic car specialist Frank Wilke from Classic Analytics in Bochum, who has no problem with the politically correct, historically rather questionable scrap metal recycling. Perhaps also because Opel did not convert a noble old-timer for this, but instead rebuilt a wreck that had long been written off.
Rather, he is pleased that a battered brand is getting some positive headlines again, that electromobility is becoming emotional in this way, and that at the same time a car is moving into focus that, despite all its coolness, has never achieved cult status like a Golf GTI.
"Perhaps that will give a couple of screwdrivers and collectors a taste for it," says Wilke, providing the current market prices at the same time: "A good, really good Manta GT / E from the seventies is now available from 25,000 euros."
more on the subject
Electric cars for long journeys: Going on, going on! By Martin Wittler
With the conversion, which they call "ElektroMOD" at Opel, the Hessians are combining two trends that are currently wafting through the classic scene. On the one hand there are the RestoMods, mostly outrageously expensive oldtimers, which have not only been exquisitely restored, but also more or less subtly modernized: with new, powerful engines, the latest infotainment and in some cases even with airbags and assistance systems. And on the other hand, there are the classics, which - partly with the blessing or even the support of the manufacturer - like the VW Bulli recently, are being converted into electric cars because a new generation of vintage car fans supposedly wants clean treasures without maintenance and the oil stains on the garage floor is sorry.
However, Wilke believes that this trend is hardly likely to support more than one single item in the Manta. Because as charmingly and consistently as the conversion is done, the Manta for real classic car fans is "canceled like a punched ticket or a stamped postage". And while a Beetle or even a Bulli, especially in the USA, is cool enough to appeal to wealthy car freaks from Generation E, the Manta lacks the recognition of the supposedly hip customers of these electrified classic cars for such escapades, says Wilke: "Nobody spends a high five-digit amount on an old Opel."
