Group B Manta 400 4WD Prototype information

[Manta400R]

Mitsuevo kindly sent some images of a (4WD) four wheel drive Manta 400. I noticed it was showing a UK 'Q' plate (Q572CPE) so did a quick check first on the government car check site...This is what came up.

Four wheel drive manta 400 car check

4wd-manta-400-car-check.png (381.96 KiB) Viewed 1082 times

I then also found an old advert showing the car was for sale, same reg plate.
The advert is here: 4WD Manta 400 Q572CPE For Sale.

For future reference, I've archived that page on the wayback machine here just in case the advert page ever disappears.

Now onto those pics that Fred sent in.

Four wheel drive rothmans manta 400 interior

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Four wheel drive rothmans manta 400 engine bay

4wd-manta-400-engine-bay.png (644.17 KiB) Viewed 1082 times

Four wheel drive rothmans manta 400

4wd-rothmans-manta-400.png (539.63 KiB) Viewed 1082 times

[RGBS]

Indeed, my research narrowed it down that the seller was KG Motorsports. I sent them an email. Other info that I have is that the car was restored prior to being sold off a second time.

Since the car was built by Opel in 1981 and had the work done at FFD in 1982, I can only assume that the 1985 date was when Opel sold it off originally but I may be wrong since I do not know how registration works in the UK. The original plate of the prototype is supposed to be "GG-CM 537" but that plate was transferred to the official Manta B400 WRC debut car (not 4WD) as it sported the same plate.

[KevinBricknall]

One more that I spotted.

opel-manta-400-4x4-article.jpg (135.43 KiB) Viewed 863 times

[KevinBricknall]

Will need translating but talks about the 4WD Manta.

[RGBS]

I believe these were already posted right from the start of this thread. Basically, if one would read the thread from the beginning, we are currently way past that point but I guess it's OK for the forum's literature database. However, I understand that most people are busy and do not take the time to read. It is 2017 after all... Again, the following webpage shows just about everything that is known about the car:

https://rallygroupbshrine.org/the-group-b-cars/group-b-prototypes/opel-manta-b-400-4x4-prototype/

...any doubles would be superfluous at this point and confusing for people just tuning in. It is only my two cents though.

Anyhow, the first article is in Dutch, and the other in Polish (the car pictured at the bottom of both articles are also NOT the 4WD proto but a normal rally Manta). These articles are easiest translatable through OCR (image text capture). They are unfortunately less intricate versions of the article in German.

Again, finding the current owners of the prototypes is the current goal. As such, KG Motorsport has not yet replied to my queries. Maybe my emails have a tendency to pop in the junk folders since they almost always include hyperlinks...

[Manta400R]

I've stumbled across a facebook reply to a post I made...There are a couple of replies of interest actually:

The original manta 400 4wd is here un spain

3 were build.

I've asked if they could kindly post here with further info.

[RGBS]

I have gotten a reply from the Quaife Engineering employee that first replied to my email: he says that Mick Quaife confirms that he bought the rally prototype from Opel for use in rallycross and sold it not long after since it "was not what he wanted", yet the car was "acceptably fast", per the statement. I am trying to find out more details but it is not easy having to go through an intermediary.

This seems to confirm the first part of the story. KGM has yet to reply, which would be great if they did since they are the last known owners of the car before they sold it off. I will, of course, share my findings with the community.

[RGBS]

Since all parties we had been hinted towards have either ignored us or refused to cooperate, we have decided to terminate our research towards finding the current owners. Still, much was learned in the process and basically what we know is already in this thread or linked to within. I'm also glad that it didn't get sidetracked too much. May it help future seekers of information about the Manta 4WD prototypes.

That being said, thank you to everyone who positively contributed!

[davy]

i build that 400 replica ;)

[Suspiria]

Great Topic and very interesting. Anyone got film of the manta 400 4x4? When it was tested.