In one of the more unique stories this week, Opel is celebrating 50 years of its iconic 1970s Manta coupe with a special electrified restomod project, called the GSe ElektroMOD, that retains a manual transmission.
It has been designed as a one-off celebration of the 1970s coupe, fitted with an electric motor and four-speed manual gearbox. Opel has thrown out the ‘70s-era four-cylinder powertrain in favour of a 108kW electric motor that pushes out 225Nm of torque, with power supplied by a 31kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Even more interesting than the power for this pint-sized coupe is the fact that Opel has designed it with a manual transmission, allowing the driver to shift, or move the transmission into fourth gear for automatic driving.
Opel says the powertrain and battery pack is good for 200km range on a single charge, with a full-charge taken care of in four hours thanks to its 9kWh on-board charger.
The styling of Opel’s Manta GSe features the company’s new Pixel-Vizor front end aesthetic, as well as LED headlights, three-dimensional LED taillights, and a front grille that has pixels built into it that allow the driver to display custom messages like “I am on a zero e-mission”. We expect real-world drivers will likely choose to display more colourful messages.
Regardless, the two-tone paint finish of the exterior, with fluro yellow and black, combined with special 17-inch Ronal alloys strikes a beautiful balance between ‘70s design flare and modern characteristics.
Inside, there’s a very bare cockpit that features a black and yellow Alcantara-lined upholstery, two digital displays – one 10-inch and one 12-inch unit – as well as a modern sound system supplied by Marshall.
Opel says that by 2024, both Vauxhall and Opel will offer an electrified variant across their entire range of vehicles in order to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards.
