Mark Smith, Gloucestershire

Mark Smith has just completed his restoration of a three-door Berlinetta, discovered two and a half years ago. ‘Despite being found under a tarpaulin in the middle of a field, it didn’t actually need much bodywork repairing. The key to its longevity, though, was it not having a sunroof through which water could leak into the sills and floorpan. That’s crucial if you want a Manta – start with a good base. But they’re a bargain compared to equivalent Ford Capris – mine was £2000. ‘The front end, however, had suffered accident damage and was beyond repair. Normally these parts are unavailable as replacements even in Germany, but in the Manta’s case it pays to know specialists and breakers – I found an otherwise-rotten car with a good front end in a scrapyard, and the owner just cut the nose off with an angle grinder and sold it to me for £15! I’m in the bodywork trade myself so the rest I did at home, just a case of straightening out dents because nothing had rusted through. ‘Other parts are scarce, so I was lucky that the interior didn’t need replacing. The engine had already been replaced with a Vauxhall XE ‘Redtop’ – a very common exchange with non-gt/e Mantas – but it was knackered, needing a cylinder head reskim and the valve timing resetting. But any Vauxhall specialist can do that and the parts are readily available. It’s a different story for the original Opel overhead-cam engines – you can’t get anything for those either from Opel or the aftermarket, and there are very few specialists who focus on them.’