MANTA (US) 1970s-1985 (?)

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MANTA (US) 1970s-1985 (?)
Tweet Topic Started: Feb 2 2011, 03:37 PM (3,768 Views)
DaWeber	Feb 2 2011, 03:37 PM Post #1
Station Wagon Posts: 1,310 Group: Members Member #96 Joined: December 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Matchbox Favorite Car Chevy Cruze	This kit car manufacturer was located in Santa Ana Calif. Actual dates of manufacture have not been confirmed. . The design consisted of a fibreglas GT coupe 2 seater body equiped with scissors opening doors. These cars gained fame as being replicas of the McLaren M6 car. Additional research indicates that the car featured in the now historical TV Show Hardcastle and McCormick, called the Coyote was a real McLaren M6 machine. Thus the model of the Coyote produced by RC2 at about the turn of the Century Is NOT a Manta kit car as was previously believed! Edited by DaWeber, Feb 4 2011, 07:17 PM.



diecastdingo	Feb 3 2011, 05:55 PM Post #2
Minivan Posts: 2,957 Group: Members Member #1,564 Joined: January 5, 2009 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Location Sydney, Australia	Here's the Manta Coyote - the copyright date on the base is 2002: Small wonder many people mistake it for a McLaren as it was designed to look like one. The story of the cars used in the TV series is a bit more complex - see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcastle_and_McCormick Arccording to the below website, a fan based operation made parts and kits until 2009! Their website is somewhat informative, but a bit dodgy in looks, spelling and grammar. According to them, the original company making the Manta closed its doors in 1986. http://mantacars.com/companyindex.html Edited by diecastdingo, Feb 3 2011, 06:03 PM.



Dean-o-mite	Feb 3 2011, 06:12 PM Post #3
Muscle Car Posts: 20,241 Group: Admin Member #1,575 Joined: February 10, 2009 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Location California & Arizona	juantoo3 posted the Ertl version of the Manta in the Ertl random picture thread. I had never seen that version, but comparing the photos, I suspect it is the same casting, which Racing Champions brought out of retirement, and used as their own. Here are two additional colors released by Racing Champions. Dean



DaWeber	Feb 3 2011, 07:43 PM Post #4
Station Wagon Posts: 1,310 Group: Members Member #96 Joined: December 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Matchbox Favorite Car Chevy Cruze	Thanks guys for your input and backup. It's great to have your support!



juantoo3	Feb 4 2011, 05:49 PM Post #5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 35,259 Group: Moderators Member #1,649 Joined: January 16, 2010 DLM or Cardboard Collector Both Preferred Brand Muscle Machines Location up to my arse in alligators Favorite Car 1934 Duesenberg SJ Towncar	From what I have learned...the car used in the show was an actual McLaren. Manta did do a "kit car" version that looked quite similar to the McLaren, but the Coyote was Bruce McLaren's attempt at a street legal car bearing his name. Unfortunately he died an untimely death on a race track and was not able to see the McLaren Coyote street version project through to completion. Which may help explain some of the confusion. It is possible I may be mistaken in some of the details, but that is how I have understood the story behind the real car in the show all these years, including behind the scenes interviews in magazines at the time. In researching the McLaren Coyote I have found about a half dozen or so examples still registered as street legal. There are far more Mantas available, which are basically a fiberglass body fitted to a Volkwagon pan with an air cooled pancake engine.



DaWeber	Feb 4 2011, 07:11 PM Post #6
Station Wagon Posts: 1,310 Group: Members Member #96 Joined: December 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Matchbox Favorite Car Chevy Cruze	juantoo3 Feb 4 2011, 05:49 PM From what I have learned...the car used in the show was an actual McLaren. Manta did do a "kit car" version that looked quite similar to the McLaren, but the Coyote was Bruce McLaren's attempt at a street legal car bearing his name. Unfortunately he died an untimely death on a race track and was not able to see the McLaren Coyote street version project through to completion. Which may help explain some of the confusion. It is possible I may be mistaken in some of the details, but that is how I have understood the story behind the real car in the show all these years, including behind the scenes interviews in magazines at the time. In researching the McLaren Coyote I have found about a half dozen or so examples still registered as street legal. There are far more Mantas available, which are basically a fiberglass body fitted to a Volkwagon pan with an air cooled pancake engine. I stand corrected! This blurb was originally written back in about 2002 by Christian F in Austria. Then , recently i took his input bverbatem without checking further to provide the above apparently incorrect info. From what i can gather off of wikipedia, The "H+Mc" Coyote was a McLaren! The mixup occurs because the Manta is acknowledged to be a fibreglas kit replica of the McLaren M6 . We all learn something new almost everyday. I did today! Source info must be checked for accuracy if one is not sure of the facts ! My appologies! I have corrected the lead page accordingly and now wonder if it deserves a place in this forum?



diecastdingo	Feb 4 2011, 08:20 PM Post #7
Minivan Posts: 2,957 Group: Members Member #1,564 Joined: January 5, 2009 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Location Sydney, Australia	This from the Wiki page and basically gels with the above: The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was not built from a Manta Montage kit car, as is the popular belief, but was based on a McLaren M6BGT, though the Montage itself was an M6 replica as well.[1] The nose, windshield doors and lower body are faithful representations of the McLaren;[2] the rear deck, however, was a custom component, that became a feature on many Montages with damaged rear windows. Most of the cars for the show were molded and assembled by Mike Fennel. Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a VW Beetle and its engine from a Porsche 914.[3] For the second and third seasons, producers used a different Coyote, which was based on a De Lorean DMC-12, as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote.[4] Edited by diecastdingo, Feb 4 2011, 08:20 PM.



juantoo3	Feb 4 2011, 08:56 PM Post #8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 35,259 Group: Moderators Member #1,649 Joined: January 16, 2010 DLM or Cardboard Collector Both Preferred Brand Muscle Machines Location up to my arse in alligators Favorite Car 1934 Duesenberg SJ Towncar	So this particular casting legitimately gets to pull double duty, depending on how it is finished. It can be used as a McLaren, or as a Manta. Now if someone would just get around to making a Bricklin... Edited by juantoo3, Feb 4 2011, 08:58 PM.



Swifty	Feb 4 2011, 09:26 PM Post #9
The Mustang II is a Mustang too! Posts: 47,821 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: July 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Yat Ming Location Pennsylvania Favorite Car Ford Mustang & Toyota Celica Supra	juantoo3 Feb 4 2011, 08:56 PM Now if someone would just get around to making a Bricklin... I would be all over one of those!



juantoo3	Feb 4 2011, 09:31 PM Post #10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 35,259 Group: Moderators Member #1,649 Joined: January 16, 2010 DLM or Cardboard Collector Both Preferred Brand Muscle Machines Location up to my arse in alligators Favorite Car 1934 Duesenberg SJ Towncar	Here's the beater Ertl I posted in the other thread. This one dates from about the time the show was on the air. I also have a copy of the RC like Dingo showed in my display case, and my eyes are peeled for the two Dean showed. Edited by juantoo3, Feb 4 2011, 09:33 PM.



Firehawk73	Feb 6 2011, 10:27 PM Post #11
Posts: 7,366 Group: Moderators Member #1,673 Joined: July 25, 2010 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Johnny Lightning Location Spring, Tx	Heck my eyes been peeled since I started collecting cars. I can never seem to get one in time or they were asking way to much for it. I know I have searched high and low when RC reissued the McCormick car years ago but they never showed up around here. I am not going to give up hope. One thing I have learned is to have patience. It will come to me when the timing is right until then I just have to wait for it.



DaWeber	Feb 7 2011, 11:59 AM Post #12
Station Wagon Posts: 1,310 Group: Members Member #96 Joined: December 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Matchbox Favorite Car Chevy Cruze	Firehawk73 Feb 6 2011, 10:27 PM Heck my eyes been peeled since I started collecting cars. I can never seem to get one in time or they were asking way to much for it. I know I have searched high and low when RC reissued the McCormick car years ago but they never showed up around here. I am not going to give up hope. One thing I have learned is to have patience. It will come to me when the timing is right until then I just have to wait for it. Suggestion, since RC and JL are now connected and JL has been using quite a few tools from the old RC issues, maybe you could get Tom Z to get it reissued? Ironically , if the Coyote was a Manta as I incorrectly thought, I also would want to get it. But since I now acknowledge it is most likely a true McLaren and I only collect models replicating car made in N Amer ; I guess that is one I don't need to find. A slight possibility , I may already have it- but doubtful! SEAN; Do you remember seeing it here in my collection? ( He has a much better memory than I do at present! ) Age and all that this situation covers is rapidly catching up with me! So many Sr Moments, I have lost track!



juantoo3	Feb 7 2011, 05:03 PM Post #13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posts: 35,259 Group: Moderators Member #1,649 Joined: January 16, 2010 DLM or Cardboard Collector Both Preferred Brand Muscle Machines Location up to my arse in alligators Favorite Car 1934 Duesenberg SJ Towncar	For what its worth, I did bring the subject up a couple of months ago, and the response from Tom was along the lines of "are you reading my mind?" I'll take that as a favorable hint that this McLaren may be in the lineup before much longer. By all means I would encourage a repeat suggestion, Tom Z. makes frequent visits to JLTalk, and even has a board specifically for fan questions of this nature.



Swifty	Feb 8 2011, 12:05 AM Post #14
The Mustang II is a Mustang too! Posts: 47,821 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: July 3, 2006 DLM or Cardboard Collector DLM Gender Male Preferred Brand Yat Ming Location Pennsylvania Favorite Car Ford Mustang & Toyota Celica Supra	DaWeber Feb 7 2011, 11:59 AM SEAN; Do you remember seeing it here in my collection? ( He has a much better memory than I do at present! ) Age and all that this situation covers is rapidly catching up with me! So many Sr Moments, I have lost track! I don't recall seeing one. So I checked the pictures I took when I was there last. Now, if you would have put this one in the Independents case (which is the only place I think you would have had it) than no, you do not have one.



69Stang	Feb 16 2011, 10:56 AM Post #15
Station Wagon Posts: 2,291 Group: Members Member #1,482 Joined: August 6, 2008	What an enjoyably article and subject. Allow me to add a quick paragraph from the Mathews Collection site. This helps sharpen the posted information. "In total, only three or possibly four M6GTs were built, but only one of these, OBH 500H, was built at the McLaren racing factory. The other M6GTs were built by Trojan-Lambretta, the company that had the contract to build McLaren customer cars. One of these was bought by David Prophet who raced it extensively. The car OBH 500H was completed by late 1969 and became Bruce's development car. To put the M6GT through its paces and learn what it was truly like, Bruce adopted it as his personal transportation, and remained so until until his untimely death in June 1970. The M6GT had become Bruce's pet project and with his testing and development it would surely have been a great success. Unfortunately, the road car idea died with him, and the OBH 500H stands as a testament to his vision."



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