Manta Cars was owned and operated by American brothers Brad and Tim LoVette, and was located in

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

, California, from 1974 to 1986 (Manta Cars moved their production facility and showroom to 2914 Halladay Avenue, Santa Ana, California around 1980). Manta produced the Manta Mirage, and later produced other component

kit car Kit may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Kit (surname), a list of people Places * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill ...

s, including the rear-engined

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

-based Manta Montage, and the mid-engined Montage-T, which had a custom

space frame In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure (Three-dimensional space, 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometry, geometric pattern. Space frames can ...

chassis and used GM X-body V6 drivetrains. The Montage-T recreated the elusive

McLaren M6GT The McLaren M6A was a Group 7 prototype race car designed and developed by driver Bruce McLaren, and built by his Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team for their entry in the 1967 Can-Am season. As a replacement for the team's M1Bs from 1966, the ...

. A very accurate reproduction of the classic 1953 Corvette was to be added to their product line, and although a prototype was built, Manta Cars ceased production in 1986, having sold about 1,000 factory-built and component cars. The Manta Mirage was an American mid-engined vehicle produced by Manta Cars. The Mirage, originally referred to as just the "Manta", or the "Manta Can-Am", was a lightweight, road-legal racing car. The Mirage's steel space frame chassis was fitted with a high-output V8 engine and four-speed transaxle. Most Mirages were equipped with or Chevrolet small-block V8 engines, and several vehicles were fitted with V8s sourced from Chevrolet, as well as V8 engines sourced from Ford. The original Mirage design mated the Chevy V8 to a Corvair transaxle via a Kelmark adapter and remote shifter. The bodywork was all hand-laid fiberglass, colored in a range of gel-coat colors.

Gull-wing doors In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door, McLaren anhedral door, or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car i ...

were fitted to a removable top section, while the doors flip forward for entry. With curb weights as light as , the cars could be built by the factory or their owners to be extremely fast.

Media appearances

The Mirage was one of the 48 cars stolen in the original 1974 movie version of '' Gone In 60 Seconds'', directed by H.B. Halicki. One can also be seen in Halicki's 1983 film ''

Deadline Auto Theft ''Deadline Auto Theft'' is a 1983 independent film written and directed by H. B. "Toby" Halicki made up of scenes from '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' and ''The Junkman'' as well as new material featuring Hoyt Axton. Plot After the attempted theft o ...

''. A modified Manta Montage, built by Mike Fennel and Unique Movie Cars, was the car in the first season of the 1983 TV show ''

Hardcastle and McCormick ''Hardcastle and McCormick'' is an American action crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 18, 1983, through May 5, 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and r ...

''. A Montage also appeared in the 1991 movie ''Highway To Hell''. A Manta Mirage is modified in the History Channels ''

Counting Cars ''Counting Cars'' is an American reality television series shown on History Channel and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series, which was the third spin-off of '' Pawn Stars'', was filmed in Las Vegas, where it chronicled the daily activitie ...

'' episode "Red, Hot and Dangerous". Note: Manta Mirages do not appear in the 1975 movie ''

Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American dystopian science-fiction action film directed by Paul Bartel and produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures. Set in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, the film centers on the murderous Tr ...

''. These cars were a basic Canam style built on a VW pan, and were built by

Dick Dean Dick Dean (February 9, 1933 – July 10, 2008), born Richard Dean Sawitskas a-WITS-kas was an American automobile designer and builder of custom cars. Biography Born in Wyandotte, Michigan, 20 miles south of Detroit, the heart of the automotive ...

. File:Montage & Mirage 6.jpg, Montage (L) & Mirage (R) File:Montage 13.jpg, Manta Montage File:Mirage 11.jpg, Manta Mirage

References

* * {{cite web, url=http://www.davewolin.com/otman.htm, title=More Manta Info, access-date=August 14, 2006 Grand tourers Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Coupés Automobiles with gull-wing doors Cars of the United States