Opel Blue Manta originally from South Cumbria fully restored

Paul Hammonds, 56, from Leek in Staffordshire, first registered his interest in purchasing the vehicle in 2015 after he noticed it positioned in the background whilst watching Drew Pritchard’s TV programme Salvage Hunters.

However the Ross family, from Ambleside, who owned the 1980s exhibit, decided to keep the vehicle at the Lakeland Motor Museum.

In September 2020, the family eventually decided to sell to Paul due to a lack of storage space at their home with their 10-year loan agreement with the museum coming to an end.

Lakeland Motor Museum then brokered the sale of the former on-loan exhibit to the Blue Manta specialist.  

Paul, who owned a Manta vehicle in the late 1980s, said he believed it to be one of the most original GSI’s in existence.

As a result, he decided to get it MOT’d to drive it around to gauge the condition of the mechanical components.

The Manta passed its MOT and drove well after Paul tweaked the brakes and fitted new tyres.

Paul then began restoring the vehicle in January 2021 and following a complete strip down, carefully cataloguing all of the original parts, as well as refurbishing and rebuilding the mechanical and electrical parts as required, the car was completely restored and repainted.

The original decals were all reproduced, even down to producing an exact copy of the original battery.

(Image: Paul Hammonds)

(Image: Paul Hammonds)

Paul, who runs his own construction company, said: “As the Manta had such a good history with the Opel Manta Club and had been in the museum for ten years, I decided it needed to be bought and restored.

“It’s cost a lot of money. The full nut and bolt restoration took 18 months of weekends and nights.

“After a little fettling, removing the fuel tank and cleaning internally, fitting a new fuel pump and replacing perished fuel lines, the GSI burst into life after a 12-year sleep.

“I took it back to the Lakeland Motor Museum and to the South Lakes Show recently to display it.”