In March 2012, during a regular visit to a junkyard in Lustadt, Germany, I found this bright green 1980 Opel Manta B CC awaiting the crusher claw.
Back then, I was more interested in Japanese cars, so I only took one single picture of it. At first glance, it seems to be a sporty Manta B CC GT/E, but the single-slot grille indicates that this must have been an early model (built before 1982). As the CC (K(C)ombicoupe model was only available from 1978, I assume this Manta left the production lines in the late 70ies – the older style side moldings seems to confirm this.
Somewhere in between the late 80ies and mid 90ies, the chrome look of the early Mantas must have started to look dated, and the owner generously did a major facelift to his CC: a green paint job and a GT/E front bumper transformed the aging stingray into the most eye-catching car parked in front of the nightclub in the next major city (in this case, that was probably the LOGO nightclub in Landau).
Note the bronze glass and the old-style ADAC sticker in the windshield. If you imagine the paint being in better condition and some BOSCH fog lights installed in the bumper cut-outs, this Manta must have made quite an impression.
These Mantas have become very hard to find, and this was the only time I encountered a B Manta on a junkyard. The A variant was a more frequent sight.
