CORGI TURBOS OPEL MANTA 400 RALLY CAR #12 PENTTI AIRIKKALA BRITISH TELECOM

Lovely unboxed condition vintage 1980s-made diecast Opel Manta 400 rally car in 1:43 scale from Corgi. This is the yellow and blue liveried British Telecm mobile phone sponsored car that Pentti Airikkala won the 1987 National Breakdown Rally - beating Russell Brookes in another Opel Manta 400. Superb paint & decals, clear glazing, black interior and base, Corgi Turbos 4-spoke wheels with chrome rims.

In 1979 work began on a rally-spec Opel. Both the Ascona B and the Manta B were used for this. The Ascona 400 model was the more successful of the two, largely due to better weight distribution.

Opel joined forces with German tuner Irmscher and Cosworth in Britain, to make the 400. Cosworth was given the task to develop a 16-valve 2-cam head for the CIH spec engine block, and Irmscher who earlier in 1977 and 78 had proven that they knew their way around an Opel building the i2800, was to design the exterior and interior of the cars. The results were not bad. Opel however had problems with the engine. The first idea of using a 2.0-litre engine and then using the 16-valve head from Cosworth simply did not give enough power. The problem was that the heads had already been built, so the heads were made to fit on the CIH type 4-cylinder engine block. So they built an unusual engine using a 2.0-litre engine block and a forged crankshaft with an 85 mm (3.35 in) stroke and ended with a 2.4-litre engine block. Mounting the 16-valve head on this gave a massive output, and the opportunity to make several tune-ups for the rally drivers.

Opel delivered the first 23 specimens in 1981 which were recognizable by the 2-slot front grille (1982 through 1984 models had 4-slot grilles). The cars were delivered as both street cars and factory tuned rally cars. The streetcars known as Phase 1 cars, were luxury versions of the known Manta B Coupé. Although all the changes to give the body more strength were still implemented, the cars were delivered with all kinds of exclusive packaging. Recaro seats with big Opel badges on the cloth, Irmscher leather steering wheel, and even front light washers were mounted. The cars were all delivered in Arctic White colour, with White Ronal lightweight 7x15" alloys. The engine was fitted with a Bosch LE injection system and power output was 144 PS (106 kW). The Phase 2 (Evolution) however was quite different: It had large extended arches front and rear made of materials such as carbon and kevlar to keep the weight down, lightweight doors, bonnet, spoilers, and plastic windows.[13] The wheels were still from Ronal but now measuring 8x15" front and 10x15" rear. The engine output was 230 PS (169 kW) using a set of 48 mm (1.9 in) DCOE style carburettors, and the cars could be delivered with different gearboxes from ZF and with different rear axle options like LSD. The engine was also moved 8 cm (3.1 in) rearwards in the chassis, while weight at the rear was brought forward, improving weight distribution and reducing moment of inertia.[13]

"Phase 3" is sometimes used when talking about the i400s, which was not a factory tune-up. Many racers of the time had their garages tune up the engine even further. Some made it across the 300 PS (220 kW) mark.

The Manta 400 was produced in a total of 245 specimens following the homologation regulations by FISA (today FIA). But the i400 also spawned some other "i" models: The first was the i200 which basically was a GSi model Manta B with most of the Manta 400's appearance. 700 were made and are still considered a collector's item. The i200 used a lightly tuned 2.0E engine delivering 125 PS (92 kW). There was also the i240, which is rarer as only 300 were produced, it is fitted with the i400 engine block but using a normal eight-valve cast-iron head from the 2.0E engine. First presented at the 1985 Geneva Motor Show, it produces 136 PS (100 kW; 134 hp) and has a claimed top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph).[14]

Also Irmscher themselves tried building the Manta with their own specs. The reason they were used for the 400 project was that in 1977 they had taken a 1977 Manta B 1.9S and put in a 2.8-litre H spec engine from the Opel Admiral of that time. Success was limited, even though the cars were on display at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show. The cars had been painted in some special colours giving it the nickname "Paradiesvogel" (Bird of Paradise) because of the rainbow like colour theme on the cars. However they did produce 28 units fitted with the 2.8H engine delivering 150 PS (110 kW) and 220 N⋅m (162 lb⋅ft) of torque.

After the success of the 400 (and i200/240) Irmscher once again tried the 6-cylinder layout. This time producing the most powerful Manta B ever released on the public market, the Irmscher i300. In 1985, Irmscher bought a handful of unfinished Manta 400 cars from Opel, which were on stock.[15] The cars had no drivetrains but were fitted with the Phase 2 equipment. Irmscher installed the new 3.0-litre LE-Jetronic engine from the Monza and Senator models, which delivered 176 PS (129 kW) and 232 N⋅m (171 lb⋅ft) of torque. Power was transmitted to a Getrag 265 gearbox, onto a 3.18:1 LSD rear axle, giving the car a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time of 8.4 seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph).[15]

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