COBI Opel Manta A GT/E 1974 Set 24349

COBI's Opel Manta A GT/E 1974 is a 1:12 model built from 1,938 blocks, 37 cm long, under original Opel licence. The steering wheel turns the wheels, the doors and body panels open on hinges, the bonnet lifts to a brick-built engine, and handles, lights and dials are reproduced in print. No stickers.

What the E stands for

Einspritzung — injection. The GT/E of 1974 replaced the carburettor with Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, and that one change is why this is the version enthusiasts want.

A carburettor meters fuel by suction and gets it roughly right. It runs rich when cold, stumbles under hard acceleration, and its mixture drifts with altitude and temperature. Injection measures the air going in and delivers a calculated amount of fuel to each cylinder, several times per revolution.

The result from the same 1.9-litre engine was 105 hp instead of 90, a top speed of 188 km/h, throttle response that did not hesitate, and — the reason manufacturers actually adopted it — exhaust emissions clean enough to meet the rules coming in across Europe and America.

Bosch had developed electronic injection in the 1960s and by the mid-1970s it was spreading from expensive cars to ordinary ones. The Manta GT/E is one of the cars where that transition is visible: an affordable coupé with the technology that would shortly make carburettors extinct.

Four-speed manual or three-speed automatic.

In the COBI range

Set 24338 is the Manta A Executive Edition and 24339 the standard 1970 car, both at 1:12. Sets 24344 and 24345 are the Opel Rekord C Coupé.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,938 · Scale: 1:12 · Licensed by Opel · No stickers
Model dimensions: 37 × 14.5 × 12 cm (14.6 × 5.7 × 4.7 in)