McLaren M6 Kit Car: 1984 Manta Montage
I would seriously drive this next car every single day if I could fit a few car seats into the back…because it combines the basic practicality of a Chevy V8 that’ll get you to the grocery store and back with the menacing looks of a McLaren M6 racer. This is the car that’ll get your neighbors talking about you behind your back…but those know-nothing do-gooders are stuck in the world of fleasing new sport utility vehicles with high monthly payments and zero street cred — forget ’em. Buy this 1984 Manta Montage offered for $18995 in Phoenix, AZ via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
From the seller:
1984 Manta
condition: excellent
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 21000
paint color: red
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
Selling our manta montage it has an aluminum block v8 automatic transmission and a 4 speed automatic transmission with AC very rare and hard to come by
See a better way to wake up the neighborhood? tips@dailyturismo.com
The no name aluminum block V8 4 speed automatic transmission with AC just screams (whimpers?) Cadillac HT4100 which makes about as much power as a built VW. It would be a lot more interesting to know what engine was in this lovely looking car.
Going by the center bolt valve covers, I'd say it's a Vortec-headed Gen 1 small block Chevy.
Perfect candidate for an electric car. That way, you wouldn't have to slice and dice (and punch holes in) the beautiful rear window.
I get why they did it– Bruce McLaren hadn't worked out the cooling issues on the M6GT before he died at Goodwood.
Speaking of which, cause of Bruce's death was due, in part, to the rear lid of his M8 flying up and the car losing control. So… might make a whole lot of sense to reverse engineer the back lid on this to open differently.
Other that that, looks like a decent job. Always hard to tell if these were the Montages built on VW frames, or the rare Montage "T", which was a separate model, and had a different frame out back.
-Stan (who owns a Montage)
No need to worry about the rear lid flying off. It has a seat belt holding it.