Faults:

I bought this car in 2002 and it looked immaculate, then some idiot opened their car door on the rear quarter so I decided it needed a respray. The front floor on both sides was completely rotten the inner and outer sills were beyond repair. The door pillars were rotten that bad I'm surprised the doors didn't fall off. Honestly it really did look good before I started to poke around. Don't buy one of these for £250 and expect a sound car.

General Comments:

These cars are amazing to drive, handle better than most modern cars, but are prone to back end coming out in the wet. Not particularly fast though. I am currently restoring this car and parts can be hard to find thank god for owners club and ebay. Very dated interior, but I love it. I've driven lots of cars, old and new and nothing gives more feed back from the road like the manta. A true classic. Don't bother asking Vauxhall for spares, even when quoting their own part numbers they don't know what you are talking about. One last thing, Vauxhall's and other manufactures like Ford are cheaper cars then BMW and Mercedes for a reason, they don't last as long. Manta's kick ass, but watch out for the Vauxhall scab.

Faults:

Brake caliper sliding sleeves are seizing and possibly causing the discs to warp.

Front hub bearings loose, will tighten.

Hydraulic tappets are rattly and will replace along with a blowing head gasket (typically head gaskets go on the 4th cylinder on these engines).

General Comments:

Rust can be a problem on these cars if neglected. Thankfully they aren't in any awkward places on mine, but they can go in some horribly difficult to repair areas.

Engine quite torquey but I think that the 18E engine from the Astra GTE would have been better placed.

Handling far in excess better than the Capri's - it certainly won't give you any nasty twitchy surprises when you are pushing it hard.

Generally tough, fast, practical and rather pretty car which still has a ride to rival most modern cars today...

Faults:

Some engine mount welding, the voltage stabilizer went wrong showing the car was overheating (Which it wasn't).

General Comments:

This is the 3rd Manta I've had, it's reliable, cheap insurance, comfortable & great fun to drive. They are at last getting the classic car status they deserve.

Faults:

Head gasket blown 3 times in as many years.

Radiator holed, fuel pump, needed welding on chassis, shock absorber lost fluid.

General Comments:

Good fun car. Looks a bit dated now. Great fun can be had on a wet road with the rear wheel drive. Will teach you a lot about car handling.

Nice array of instruments, inc. Voltmeter and oil pressure gauge as standard. Frameless doors look good in summer.

Engines are generaly good (mine needed a head skim to stop gasket blowing). It took a bit of a beating when I had it, but survived pretty well.

Recently bought its successor, the Calibra.

Overall: Fun but dated looks.