Herpa's new Opel Manta is a winner

[bbussey]

Got a bunch of goodies in the mail today, one of them being a two-pack of Herpa's new Opel Manta B model.  The Manta B was sold from 1975 to 1988 and resembles the Chevy Monza on which it was based.  So it's an option for filling up open frame auto racks.  The street price is around $9 per car, but it's definitely a quality piece and among the better N auto models currently available.  Here is the pair of Opels on an MTL open rack:



The colored plastic body is fully opaque and polished to the point where it can pass as automotive gloss enamel paint.  The masking of the hood and window gaskets is sharp. 



The various tamped decorations are crisp throughout, and include headlights, side molding, door handles and branding emblems.



The wheels on the HO model appear to be from the 1980s editions, but those used for the N model appear to be from the earlier period.



The only areas I would change is to leave the hood the same color as the body, and to highlight the molded in bumpers with more silver paint.  This definitely is one of if not the best N automobile model that Herpa has released.  I wish the company would consider releasing some 1960s/1970s American vehicles outright, as that market is wide open.

[Robbman]

OH... NOW I see what you've been doing instead of answering you phone

[James Costello]

OH... NOW I see what you've been doing instead of answering you phone

Caller ID is a wonderful thing 

The cars look sharp!

[ljudice]

They look great!

But getting Euro manufacturers to listen is going to be interesting...  I've written several times (by email) to some of these firms (in German!) and never received any response back, not even the "thanks for your stupid suggestion" form letter.

- Lou

[cfritschle]

I will second what Bryan has stated!  The Opel Manta B is comparable to the Herpa MINI Cooper. 

And hopefully, Herpa will listen to Lou and consider making more vehicles that were common of both sides of the Atlantic, instead of those only availble in Europe like the Manta B. 

Here are some additional photos of the Opel Manta B with an Atlas Ford Fairmont for comparing the relative size of the models.







Carter

[ljudice]

Carter - the N autos in Europe - are they solely for model railroaders or is there a model car hobby in N similar to the huge HO scale collectors market?

[Ian MacMillan]

Caller ID is a wonderful thing 

+1

[wm3798]

May I add that I love your treatment of the open auto rack, Bryan...

Looks to be lowered, painted and detailed very nicely, indeed.

Lee

[bbussey]

Thanks Lee.  I'd been lowering the MTL racks from the beginning as well as replacing the ladders and painting the decks.  The addition of the stanchions and safety railings is Chris Broughton's concept, and it really upgrades the model.

[wm3798]

I'm guessing the new BLMA trucks would effect the lowering without having to fool with the bolsters...  I've got 10 of these things I'll have to rip apart and paint now!

Lee

[bbussey]

Haven't tried them yet.  I will at some point, as I have a couple more open racks to modify.  It should work.  If so, it also solves the truck bolster being out of alignment with the bolster pads on the body.  I realigned all of mine.  You'd have to body-mount #2004 couplers directly to the floor (cut a big notch out the stirrup piece to accommodate the coupler box) because the #2019 would no longer fit or be at the correct height.  Using BLMA trucks also should work on the TOFCs.

For the end ladder post replacement, I buy extra regular posts directly from MTL to replace them.  If the posts are bought around the time a car is released, usually you can get some of the posts leftover from production that have the same molded/painted color.   Not as critical for the brown cars, but for the red ATSF car it was an issue.

[Mark5]

Got a bunch of goodies in the mail today, one of them being a two-pack of Herpa's new Opel Manta B model.  The Manta B was sold from 1975 to 1988 and resembles the Chevy Monza on which it was based.  So it's an option for filling up open frame auto racks.

As a geezer that remembers the Monza , these do somewhat resemble the Monza. The Monza was sold from 1975 to 1980 (I think there were also Buick and Olds clones of the Monza too).

These most closely resemble the coupe version IMHO:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1976_Monza_Coupe.jpg

Though quite different in the details (headlights, etc)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Opel_Manta_front_20080820.jpg

I seem to remember that most US versions were the "fast back".

Mark

[sizemore]

Good find, wish it was a Chevy Vega though to fit my era! Not to cause thread drift but since we're talking about cars mid 60's and later to fill autoracks... It appears (to me at least) that TomyTec also introduced some new cars:

1969-ish Toyota Landcruiser - hit the American market around the same time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Land_Cruiser
).


1964-ish Subaru 360 - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_360)


1974 Toyota Carolla -


The S.

[bbussey]

TomyTec is actually 1:150 though, isn't it?

[Mark5]

TomyTec is actually 1:150 though, isn't it?

Unfortunately, yes. I wish someone could convince them to do some 1:160 - their 1:150 vehicles look amazing!