The American Supercar That Was Faster Than EVERYTHING - The Manta Mirage
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- čas přidán 23. 06. 2024
- In this Rare Cars documentary, we are going over the story of the INSANE garage-built, mid-engined V8 kit car that no one has heard about. The Manta Mirage.
This fiberglass kit car was a child of the fiberglass era of the 1970s although unlike many of the other Volkswagen-based kits, the Manta Mirage used a custom tube frame chassis and a potent American V8 to deliver world-beating performance at a ridiculously low price.
Enthusiasts across the United States flocked to build these powerhouse kits in their own garages and their entire story is one that the world needs to know.
*Note, we are not historians. If you see an error in our research then please mention it in the comments!
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Hardcastle n mcCormick tv program 👍🏻👍🏻
Yep, the Montage was the doner car for it. I loved both of these cars from Manta as a teenager back in the early 80s.
@@mgguyvintagevehicles 👍🏻👍🏻
Yes it was in that as well!
It was in the original Gone In 60 Seconds.
I remember that show.
Instant return to my childhood Hardcastle and McCormick
Different car
@@-Jason-L Nope...
czcams.com/video/Xll6h83NRjI/video.htmlsi=TL8OMFdphsKwpRXC
no, this is the mirage, that was the ugly montage with a stinking vw engine.
I remember drooling over the pics of these in Kit Car magazine as a kid.
I did too. Waited 32 years till I got mine. Then got a Montage T to go with it.
@@Paul-fe4vl Awesome!👍My tastes have changed quite a bit over the years, but I can't deny that they're still sweet looking rides.
@@dr.burtgummerfan439 They do draw attention! The Mirage is the one car that would literally stop traffic when I took it out. Had people stop in the middle of an intersection just to look at it. Now I've got to get busy and get it back on the road. Rebuilding it from the ground up with new suspension, engine, trans, etc.
Loved the old CanAm cars and the Mirage was as close as I could get to owning one!
@@dr.burtgummerfan439I agree when they're built right.
I worked for several years at Manta cars glad to see someone do a proper video on the car and company. I had the pleasure of being friends with the brothers and their family, very nice people. Also worked on a race team when Brad was racing formula ford. He also owned a Ford Pantera.
I owned the only Manta that was factory built with a rear wing molded into the body like the McLaren 2:36 It was red with a black wing. 327 powered and fast AF. I got it certified by the CHP, had a VIN # put on it, license plates and drove that thing everywhere. Absolutely NOTHING got more attention that that car. Thanks for the history lesson
Cool! What happened to it?
My how stupid you were to put a vehicle inventory number on the car you bought that was built from the factory and then contracting with a third-party department called the DMV to get license plates that are purely for driving 4 commerce... Super smart now you gave the DMV 1/10 possession of the private car you paid for through ignorance 😅... Never register the car with anybody unless you are making money on the side of the road with that said car because then you would be considered profit "for hire"
For some reason alot of kit cars end up in Florida so I've personally seen 3 mantas and drove one LS powered. It was a go-kart from hell and handled like it. It borderlines on not being heavy enough for its own good. The front tires only suggest where to go and the ass end loves to trade with the front. The suspension parts are meant for cars much heavier than it is so that plays a part. I'd be terrified to seriously race one but in good hands it'd be unbeatable. Can't see shit driving it on the road so there's that. It has the fiero syndrome where you feel like you're going faster than you are being so low to the ground. I race supersport motorcycles and ride a liter bike on the street and that car scares me. For anyone with one, spend the money on sticky tires and good brakes because it doesn't have to weight to stop without locking up and sliding. Its cool to see you cover this car. More people know about sterling novas more often than this one. Nice video
Ease of registration. You can register just about anything in Florida so it makes sense that they either end up there or had initial registration there.
Plus the demographic of people living there, older folks with expendable income along with wealthier residents near beaches wanting a cruise car.
@CreamAle you know that didn't occur to me. I've spent most of my life in Florida and South Carolina so my knowledge of vehicle regulations between states is lacking. Florida does have processes for kit cars specifically and no inspections. I just didn't put 2 and 2 together on that one lol. Good call.
@@ValkyriesMoon yeah for sure. it's why CleetusMcfarland and the BoostedBoiz can have those wild cars on the road legally. Like that Tesla swapped odyssey or even Leroy, the previously exocaged Corvette he has.
Florida is wildly easy for that stuff whilst California is one of the more tough states to get away with things like that. Cherish your state's freedom with registration, because that stuff will go away eventually, sadly.
Pretty sure you made all that up....😂
You race Jennings GP or down south?
Nice episode, well done. My Dad, Uncle, and I built a Manta Montage. I remember going with my Dad to the factory in Costa Mesa. Tim and my Dad worked together to put air conditioning in the montage. Dad’s car was number 37 in the production run and it was McLaren orange. I remember people following us home to ask about the car or take pictures. But that was a long time ago, my Dad sold the car to a Japanese businessman, he exported it to Japan.
Well Dad I miss you, those were good memories, Godspeed.
That Farmer from New Zealand just keeps on popping up. Bruce Mclaren !!!
He was never a farmer, he came from Remuera in Auckland and his dad owned a garage. His kiwi contemporary Chris Amon however, came from a farming family near Bulls in the Manawatu.
Kit Car magazines were a fixture when I was a gear head growing up, the Manta Mirage was a CanAm car for the street. Just awesome especially for the era!
Thank you for posting this! I've been a viewer for a while and couldn't believe when the thumbnail came up for this video! The Mirage was my fantasy vehicle when I was a teenager, and to be honest probably still is lol. There is one local to me here in southern Ontario, it usually shows up at the annual car show in my city. Keep up the great work!
Glad you enjoyed it! It is such a cool car especially with the custom chassis. I have yet to see one in person but hopefully I do some day!
As a young man I always wanted to buy one of those I had acquired the Corvair transaxle all the parts to put one together never had enough money to buy the kit I was going to build a 283 a high RPM I still have the original brochure
Same here .
I built a mirage in memory of my daughter. With my son James and lost him at 24
Due to a medical emergency! He never got to see the mirage finished his ashes hang on the rear view mirror in the video❣️ he is with me❤️
It’s the orange mirage in the video! Super cool video
I’ve never driven a car that you can drive 50 miles an hour plus around a 25 mph turn!I love it and will be passed down in the Lee family
Kirk lee
I was almost going to send you the link Kirk. I'm glad you saw it. I still have to get mine back together and on the road. Hope to get more done this year on it. Then rebuild the Montage T as well.
Paul
@@Paul-fe4vl thanks
Ron notified me on face book 😀 pretty Awesome
There was a Manta featured in the original 1973 Gone in 60 seconds.
also in death race i believe
I remember now
I was, with a buddy at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in, I think, the late '80s when we came upon a red coupe. Knowing nothing of the car, and always curious but no touch-y, I rolled around on the grass poking my eyeballs as deep as possible into the car's nooks and crannies to see what it was made of. Peeking through a gap in the rear, I saw the unmistakable shape of a '61-'63 Buick 215 cu in alloy V-8! I had been collecting junk ones in hopes of mixing and matching good parts to end up with a set of decent internals that I could put into a good block which would get installed in a lightweight Chevy Monza/Buick Banshee I was planning.
I had found, meanwhile, that the alloy heads and steel crank, from Buick's '64 Wildcat 310 would work with the 215 Buick block and Ford 2.3 liter pistons to enlarge displacement to 305 cu in. Adding Kenne-Bell valvetrain bits, lightweight steel flywheel, and oiling mods would make it all live at power levels above 400HP. That was the REAL Kenne-Bell...back when they were only about Buick performance parts, instead of the belly-button stuff they sell now...A full-on 455 Wildcat with Kenne-Bell innards and accessories was both a thing of beauty and a screaming beast at the track!
By that time, I had collected enough of the larger '64 heads and cranks to make 10 engines but needed cash. What the Hell!...I wrote brief note about the mods, name and number, on a slip of paper and wedged it between door frame and body. A week or so later I got a call from the owner and we arranged to meet at the next event at the track we would both be attending.
Somewhere in the Midwest, there is/was a Manta Mirage with, at least for a time, 300 inches of very light, tightly packed, Kenne-Bell enhanced, Buick power! A photographer by hobby, I have few shots of the car..one out on the track with a slow-shutter speed blur!
The ultimate kit car story I know about appeared in the Classic & Sports Car magazine from the UK when a Studebaker dealer (from New Jersey, I think) in the 50's wanted a new Mercedes-Benz 300SL gull wing, but only in kit form. Mercedes-Benz, for some reason, agreed so they sold him the kit. Unfortunately, for him, he died before getting around to assembling it. Some lucky guy bought it as part of a deceased estate, so he now owns the only brand new 300SL with zero miles on the odometer, albeit in pieces, but probably with deteriorated rubber parts.
The _ULTIMATE_ "barn find"!
Another great video
Great vid!! 🤜🤛
Thanks for this vidéo 👍
Wow, that car looks absolutely brutal! Thanks for the video!
Good video, thanks.
What an insane machine!!! 🔥
I have had mine for over 20 years and still enjoy it
Great video with interesting insights
BOT detected.
The only Manta I’ve heard before was an opel model...thx for sharing the knowledge.
Same here, and a legend on it's own, the crazy mid 80's racing Opel Mantas out of Germany in particular, Irmscher. If you aren't familiar, google 'irmscher manta' and go for pics - you won't regret it.
Awesome video! I have never heard of the Manta company and their cars until this video! I have 2 suggestions, could you do videos on Mosler and Vector cars?
have one that needs a good home. bought it new in 77, now i'm old, 71. tons of goodies, was finished, bought new things to fix inherent shortcomings, they need installed comes with a car rotator. YT won't let me leave contact info as my last post was deleted
I remember these on the road…great looking and sounding
Thanks for the trip back to the old days too the one stand out of the DIY era. I was so close to actually buying the Manta back then, really sorry I didn't...sure would look great sitting in between my 73L & 87 GT5-S Pantera's!
Now you are just bragging.
@@Spiritof_76 I don't know how much I'm bragging, I bought my 73 in 85 & the S 10 years later when no one really wanted them...should have bought Lambo's when no one wanted those.
@@512bb Sweet cars. When they were affordable, I was young and broke. Congrats, I'm sure they are a blast to drive around.
Great video man. You might think about investing into an isolated vocal booth or acoustic treatment for whatever room you are recording in 💯
Heck, I've seen that very car at the end of the vid at Mecum. Thank you for educating me on this thing. I had no idea what it was.
I commented this car on the 1963 z06 video lol. The Mirage is a dream car for me!
Had a montage in Australia in the eighties one of 3 mantas that I knew of😊
Nice, I remember them.
Those brothers executed on a great idea. I've always found the Manta to be too much of a caricature of the M8 McLaren for my taste. That said, the Montage was a spot on replica of the M6GT, one of the greatest looking and performing cars of the era. The tube chassis Manta with the trans mounted GM engine/transmission from the Chevy Citation platform was a noble successor to all those VW based kit cars. The Montage body molds were passed around after the devise of Manta and were still in small production as recently as 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the chassis jig disappeared with the company so you are now on your own to build one. The Montage would be a great kit car to be reintroduced in this era with so many engine/transmission choices available to propel that little car.
As a teenager my parents friend had one of those he was building and boy I wanted one! But he never finished it, unfortunately!
Note to self... Do not gush about fiberglass production while the sparks are flying from what is obvious a spot welding machine tacking steel panels together.
I found this a good video story line supported by some seriously questionable background photography.
I still have my manta montage t!
Very cool, a car for lovers, tight squeezed always in touch. This kit could be a nice project for an EV build.
Thank you for an enlightening video on a great car. The closest I will ever come to one is the Manta that was in a friend's fabrication shop for finishing many years ago. I have a model kit of the Hardcastle and McCormick Coyote, which I believe was built from a Manta Montage, but I could be mistaken.
Larry Landis
I didn’t know you can spot weld fiberglass
You can't but you can bond fibreglass panels on metal panels.
I remember looking as a young boy getting back yard hot rods and , the kit cars 🚗 magazines .
Actually remember spotting a few of these on the road as a kid in the '80s. I've also read about one called the Valkyrie that was big block Chevy powered, but can't recall that I ever saw one of those in person.
A big block Manta had to be CRAZY
@@rarecars3336 I looked up the Valkyrie again, it somewhat resembled a Ford GT40 and was made by an outfit called Fiberfab.
The Valkyrie was made by Fiberfab and was intended to have a small block. I looked at one to buy 20 something yrs ago, but simply couldn’t swing it.
I saw an ad for this kit car in the back of a magazine when I was a teenager,I think it was either Popular mechanics or Hot rod but I wanted one bad.
I lusted after these as a kid.
I saw the short on the DeTomaso Longchamp, are you posting a full-length video on them soon?
I still have my red Montage that I bought over 30 years ago. In fact, I'm going to work on the Weber carbs this weekend.
Damn cool car never heard or seen it before.
I remember a guy that had a yellow mirage back in the 80s in norwalk ct. Cool car
I grew up with Kit Car Magazine. Still want a speedster C with a built VW engine.
I had one back in 77 it had been a show car doors had been changed to 1 piece gull wing hydraulic along with the tail section I painted it black with orange accents and an orange hour glass on the roof loved that car
You should do some videos about Fiberfab cars 👍
Got a Bonito myself.
So THAT'S where "The Coyote" (06:43) from the 80s TV show Hardcastle & McCormack came from.
Noted!
Nope. It wasnt a manta
@@-Jason-L On the contrary, it's the exact model, just a bit different headlight fixures.
czcams.com/video/Xll6h83NRjI/video.htmlsi=TL8OMFdphsKwpRXC
@@-Jason-L YES, it was. It was a Manta Montage in the first season. In the 2nd and 3dr seasons they used a modified
DMC12, because the guy playing the character, Hardcastle (forgot his name) couldn't get in and out of the car. Look it up it's on google. I posted the link in my first answer but YT deleted it.
Cool
The Coyote (Montage) was my favorite tv car.
the Montage T looks nice, that one in that cute blue seen in 7:25 and 7:39. i think the nostalgia behind these cars is what makes it awesome. what i want to see is a production sportscar with like 1000ci displacement and like 4000HP on the wheels, the engine bay behind the driver would be like three feet longer than for a usual V12 6.0L engine, that is not to long and eligible for driving on publicly accessible roads. there are factories that race to make the fastest production car, its strange that they then dont make sportscars with powerful engines like that, that much HP would be enough for like 310mph.
The Manta Montage is the kit car I saw and wanted, in the back of a magazine when I was a kid. I, however, failed to read the "small print" which said you needed a Volkswagen chassis. Needless to say, and because I was only 10 or 11 years old at the time, I didn't get one.
Known of manta for years because of the montage being used in Hardcastle and Mccormick
Just the movie view gone in 60 seconds. Born in 1956 boy those were the days, well not to old to dream. Thanks yes I remember cheap gas. Dam opec and the days of gas wars in Joplin mo.❤ thank you!!
Back in the 80s I remember seeing what looked like a Manta in the Forney transportation museum of Denver. Does anyone else remember seeing this car?
I got them to send me a catalog back in the late 70's, the Mirages were awesome looking. And boy how I looked down on that Montage, which was all the things that made people think kit cars were crap.
Amazing car this car remind me of hard castle and mc cormick car❤❤❤❤
Illuminating
My buddy bought one back in '74 and all of us in the shop pitched in and helped on it. Very nice kit except for the trans axle set up but he ended up getting a AMC proto type one at action in Michigan a year or so later.
I used to factorize about building one of these kit cars back in the late 70s and mid-eighties reading kit karmagazine.
Cool video manta was a base car for McCormic’ s coyote x . Wonder if it could be fitted on a pont fiero v8 set up. ?
The gold manta montage and the blue one are v8 cars with 5 speed tranz. i own the blue one and my friend frank has the gold one that makes a you turn in your video.
I'd just like to get my hands on one of those mid engine tube frame chassis.
I had a friend in the Navy who got out in San Diego and had ordered one of these and had begin assembling the suspension pieces when I transferred overseas and lost track of my buddy. I have wondered over the years if he ever finished it.
The Manta Montage had special chassis built by Mid Engineering with an Oldsmobile Toronado drive train!
I'd like to see you cover the coyote from hardcastle McCormick show
Check out Factory Five Racing for modern kit cars - their 818 coupe kit weighs about 2200lbs or so and uses a Subaru WRX powertrain (though only the rear wheels are driven. If 270hp (or more, depending on mods) in a one-ton vehicle isn't enough, check out their GTM kit - LS V8 power and various Corvette parts to keep costs down, along with a bespoke body & chassis.
They're not the only kit car builders, either, there are several other builders on both sides of the pond.
There's a Cosmo rotary turbo one in Brevard county fl🎉
3:18 that electric scooter part of the show? Had some nice rims. 🤣
😂
Owned/built a Manta Mirage powered by a 3.5 liter Buick V8 (215 cu. in.) 1980-86. The Buick was aluminum block with Formula 1 racing heritage (won F1 in 1962 I believe).
When I was a kid, I had a bed inside a replica Manta frame.
They need to bring those cars back or something similar to them.
6:45 the Coyote X from the show Hardcastle and McCormick.
Please correct me if I’m wrong but the front windshield looks like the back window out of a 78 Corvette
I first saw one in the original gone in 60 seconds that was made in 1973. Then saw one at kounts kustoms.
The Manta was on the original gone in 60 seconds ,stolen on a test drive when he swaps seatys with the saleman
Yes it was!
We need small "kit car" manufacturers back.
Kit car Coyote X looks similar to Manta Mirage, any chance seein story about it in the channel?
Upd: found out by myself) it was jut Manta Montage)
First season car was a Montage...
www.google.com/search?q=Hardcastle+and+McCormick+First+season+car+&newwindow=1&sca_esv=f726501b840aca30&sca_upv=1&hl=en&source=hp&ei=7rZbZqfSItC75OUPo9v-iA4&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZlvE_sId_lY3ETbUEHh7c9XabpE1Eizq&ved=0ahUKEwingcegz7uGAxXQHbkGHaOtH-EQ4dUDCBg&uact=5&oq=Hardcastle+and+McCormick+First+season+car+&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IipIYXJkY2FzdGxlIGFuZCBNY0Nvcm1pY2sgRmlyc3Qgc2Vhc29uIGNhciAyBhAAGBYYHjILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFMgsQABiABBiGAxiKBTIIEAAYgAQYogQyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiiBBiJBTIIEAAYgAQYogRI_aUBUABYq2lwAHgAkAEBmAH_BqABhjKqAQ4wLjEuMTQuMy4xLjEuMbgBA8gBAPgBAfgBApgCFKACzi3CAhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxiDARjHAcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgILEC4YgAQY0QMYxwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICBRAAGIAEwgILEC4YgAQYxwEYrwHCAgcQABiABBgKwgIGEAAYBxgewgIGEAAYCBgewgIEECEYCpgDAJIHCjAuMS4xMy40LjKgB8PKAQ&sclient=gws-wiz
Manta, the closest thing you could get to a McLaren can am type car for the street, at least in looks. How fast is it well how actually good is the suspension and engine?
Reminds Me Of an *ULTIMA RS* SuperCar.
The radiator up front is going to make the cockpit a very hot place.
I want to build a Coyote. I want a Montage. Where could I buy one?
Umm the video showed steel body parts being welded together while the voiceover described fiberglass?
It used both. You CAN bond steel and fiberglass together ya know.
Subbed.
Nice video
Im surprised you didn't bring up the Cody coyote, the manta that was used in the 80's TV series hardcastle and McCormick where the car was the star, I still have my erytle toy car from back then, if I remember right the toy is dated 83, if your not aware some of the episodes of the show are here on utube, they used a few different drive trains and actually sizes of cars to make the show, but I can just remember thinking that car was awesome
Damnit, I was trying to remember the name. I used to love that and BJ and the Bear among other shows at that time.
@@davidpawson7393 BJ and the bear was awesome i got a matchbox sized rig like the one he drove in that series
Hardcastle and McCormick was on for 3 seasons. Loved season 1 (because of the Coyote) and remember eagerly waiting for the season 2 premier episode only to find that they changed the car. Hated the way it looked. Found out a number of years ago, the reason they changed it was because Brian Keith (Hardastle) had a hard time getting in and out of the car.
@@deanosborn3464 same here, they said by third season they were actually using remote control scale models for some of the stunts, there a channel here in utube I want to say it's car stars that tells the story behind a few of famous cars thru the years they covered the coyote, I just went back and looked it up it is carstarz channel and episode is 10 amazing fact about the car
@@deanosborn3464 I agreed loved that car when I first seen it, they said by season 3 they were using scale model remote control cars for some of the stunts, if you go to carstarz channel and go to episode 10 wild facts about McCormicks coyote x , it tells some of the history, they also cover alot of other famous movies and TV cars pretty interesting
I seem to remember a car called the Manta Ray from the mid-1960s. Don't remember much about it, other than the swoopy body, as I was only a kid, but I remember that it existed! How about a story on it?
Opel loved it But Rusted out.
@@jimshoe402 You're confusing what I'm asking about to the Opel Manta sports coupe of the early 1970s. The Manta Ray of the mid-1960s looked much like the subject car in this video.
Well, there was the Mantaray show car by Dean Jeffries, which was very cool but not so much like this. Or the Corvette Manta Ray of the late 60s.... Both were front engine but very swoopy.
@@Sherman62 Thanks for the help, but none of those are what I'm remembering. It may have been called simply "Manta." I remember it being very much like the Montage in overall shape, but smoother, more amorphous. It may have been a show car or maybe even a concept. I DO remember it being made into a slot car and an early Hot Wheels.
@@theflash1425 What you are talking about... there are ONLY 3 hits on Google for a car called Manta or Manta Ray. 1 These kit cars by the company MANTA. 2 The Opel Manta, referred to back then as the "poor man's Corvette". And 3. The one and ONLY CORVETTE MANTA RAY concept car. There are NO other cars from the 70's with THAT name. lol Hope that helped ya.
My great uncle, (Grandma's brother), built one. I think he bought it from an individual in unfinished condition. He was in his sixties when he started. It took years to correct the things he felt were wrong and complete the project. He did finish it. However, i think he was too old to enjoy it. Later, as his health failed, I tried to buy it when the family began to talk about selling. I couldn't close a deal and it went to someone outside the family. I never got to hear it run. Sad really.
Pretty typical story unfortunately
GT40 was designed in England, only tuned by Shelby under Ford badge
I can see it now. Mantas with LS engines. It does seem appropriate.
What about the Vector?
The Vector isn't a kit car, it's an American super car, the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Ford pantera. nuff said
The SLC of the 70s
A drug dealer by the name of Spencer had one of these in Bricktown NJ during the '80s.
He eventually got arrested and his Manta Mirage sat in the parking lot by the Bricktown PD for a few years. After all that time parked outside it was a basket case.
Rip Brad, too bad case they didn't keep going.
"...faster than ANYTHING!"
How fast were them?
Neat cars -- however they were NOT faster than a Pantara. The problem with them is that the Corvair transaxle and transmission will blow to bits the moment you punch the gas, the suspensions were so horrid that the handling sucked, and the brakes were not good so stopping wasn't the greatest either. I've seen one with a ZF 5 speed transaxle in it and that addressed a lot of the issue, and now I see guys putting Porshe Boxster 6spd transaxles in them - which is probably even better. The other problem is the looooooong overhang in the front of the car makes it impossible to navigate speed bumps, steep inclines, or even go over a curb to enter a driveway. Still though -- neat looking beasts.