KAZ, who’s built more than his fair share of awesome kit cars, sends along some classic shots of the Manta Mirage. The blue one is his Manta Mirage, showing at the Houston Auto Rama in 1976, and the orange one was photographed at Tim La Vette’s facility in California when KAZ went to pick up his Manta. I especially like the last photo.
For some reason, not everyone is a fan of the Mirage’s rear end, which is pretty much the opposite of it’s long pointy noise — flatly snubbed off. Personally I love it — it really exaggerates the car’s rocketlike appearance. As a quick reminder:
But, like I said, not everyone is a fan. For example, this Mirage has a wing molded into the rear, which actually does a nice job maintaining the race car appeal. The corners have been extended back and rounded off a little as well.
Here’s a Manta Mirage where it seems like the owner would have rather bought a Ferrari, as he’s spent hundreds of hours molding in the lights and rear deck from a Testarossa kit car instead. The problem with this, as I see it, is that the Testarossa is a very distinctive car and many people will recognize this vehicle as an odd Frankenstein’s monster. Nonetheless, a nice job that I’m sure will appeal to many. Just not me.
This one’s a little more “futuristic” looking — the owner molded in the rear section of a seventies Corvette and mounted lights from a Fiero. The connection between the Vette and the Mirage is a little awkward (you can still see the Mirage’s wing), and I’m not convinced the front and back of the car match aesthetically, but it definitely has a lot of potential.
I’ve saved the best for last I think. This Mirage has what I’m pretty sure is a Manta Montage rear molded in. It’s a great fit stylistically and really looks like it was designed that way. It does a wonderful job of extending the rear and making it look a little more natural, and gives the car a sleeker and less obviously aggressive look. Of the modified Mirages, this one is my favorite.
Leo in New York is working on this Manta Mirage project… Seriously, I don’t think there’s a meaner looking car out there than the Mirage. Even half-assembled it looks amazing from all angles.
There’s a great looking yellow Manta Mirage up for sale on eBay (#130276088113) in Davenport, Florida with opening bid of $10,000. From the description it sounds like this is the long version (both a short cab and long cab version existed — the latter was required for taller owners). The seller writes,
It will comfortably sit two large adults. It was originally set-up for a driver that was over 6 feet tall. There is plenty of leg room in both the driver’s and passenger’s side compartments. It can cruise equally well on the highway or in city traffic. The engine is a well-built 350 cu. in. Chevy V-8 small block. It has a Holley 4-barrel carb, and a Mallory electronic ignition. It has always been exceptionally well-tuned. It has a 4-speed manual transmission and an electric pump to lubricate the gears at higher speeds. The transmission was completely refurbished by Jones Racing during the car’s restoration. The transmission also has a separate cooler. The cooling system utilizes a big, aluminum Griffin radiator and electric fan so that you can drive this car in the hottest conditions. The suspension is upper and lower A-arms in front with adjustable coil-over shocks with upper and lower control arms for easy camber adjustment. The gauges are new. The tires are 245/50/14 in front and 295/50/15 in the rear. They are in perfect condition with less than 1,000 miles on them. These tires are a perfect balance for both the street and road racing courses. The body was originally painted red in a gel-coat finish. During restoration, we elected to change the color to chromium yellow. There is no chipping, webbing, or paint-over on the body. The original headlights and headlight cans were removed. The headlights were remounted in the front air dam for stylistic purposes. The car includes a removable soft top. However, this top is not appropriate for driving purposes. It is more of a protective soft top when washing or transporting the car. I suppose you could drive with the soft-top in place, but I would not recommend it. All of the lights, turn-signals, and electronics work. During restoration, we installed a AM/FM/CD player with speakers that was not on the original car. The car has a windshield wiper base, however, we removed the wiper for stylistic purposes.
The car was just listed so as I write this there are still almost ten days left in the auction.
You know, even packed away in a crate the Manta Mirage is one of the best looking kits out there. This is Eric’s (svntyfrcvt@centurytel.net) project. Unfortunately he’s short a windshield, and Manta Cars doesn’t have any left for him and has no plans to make more…
There’s a decent looking Manta Mirage up on eBay right now (#220273752407) in Mooresville, IA (although the car has a Missouri title and a California VIN). It’s very bright yellow, and has an unfortunate wing and over-sized scoop mounted on the rear that detract from the car’s lines, but these could be removed for the less garish purchaser. The car was completed in 2000 and is a Ford 302 mated to the 4-speed Corvair transmission — the standard Manta setup. It has disc brakes all around and air bag suspension up front to lift the long, low nose over speed bumps.
A quite striking white Manta Mirage is up for sale in Edmonton, Alberta right now. It was originally listed on eBay with a $38,000 reserve, which in my opinion is significantly more than it’s worth — realistically its value is between $20,000 and $30,000. I mentioned this to the owner, and we had a brief argument and our conversation ended, but a friend just showed me that it’s back on the market at a slashed price. At $30,000 asked, it’s still at the upper end of the car’s value, but definitely approaching where someone is going to bite since there aren’t many of these in Canada.
This Manta is being advertised as a 1985 factory build that’s been in storage since 1991 (at which time it was registered and plated in Alberta) after only 581 miles. According to the seller it still starts and runs well, but needs the brake and tranny fluids changed. It’s running a 375HP 350 Chevy mated to a 4-speed Corvair transmission — the normal Manta setup. If you’re interested, drop them a line at likestwofix@shaw.ca.
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