GREATER THAN THE SUM
The Opel Manta was a pretty car, at least in its first and third generations. We shall skate over an awkward phase between 1975 and 1981 when it was basically a hunchbacked, two-door Cavalier. Otherwise it was a graceful sports coupé, an evolution of the Ascona saloon from a manufacturer whose offering was dominated by distinctly quotidian machinery. In 1989 Vauxhall repeated the same trick with the Calibra. Underneath it may have been the Mk3 Cavalier, but its pared-down profile made it one of the better-looking cars of its generation. It sold reasonably well as a result.
The Calibra was very much the descendent of the Manta, as both were the
