Ralph could have bought a Porsche 911 with the money he put into his Opel Manta

“Everything is improving, everyone is getting older, but a car remains the same. That makes my Mantas so beautiful to me.” Ralph Meijs (44) sits behind the wheel of his gold-colored Opel Manta from 1983, and feels 18 again. This Manta was his first car. His other Manta, a gray one from 1986, belonged to his mother, Tiny, for many years. She still regularly watches with amazement how her son cherishes the old Manta. Ralph’s father Roger (71) is much more of an enthusiast than his wife, and helps his son to keep the Mantas in top condition. If the Meijs family has valuable family heirlooms, it is these two old Opels.

They both started their lives with a 90 hp 1.8. Now they have a lot of horsepower thanks to the 2.0 16V and the 3.0 24V, powerful multi-valve engines from other fast Opels.

Two generations infected with Manta virus

Two generations of the Meijs family have been infected with the Manta virus, but the third generation is already eager. Ralph’s daughter Femke (9) thinks the golden Manta is beautiful and already indicates that she would like to have it later. Her brother Ruben (11) is moving towards the gray Manta. Ralph does not push his offspring and lets time do its work: “It is not a must. They are still young now, they will have to want it themselves later.” But the fact that his children have a bond with the two Manta rays from an early age certainly makes Ralph proud. It was something that was coming, he says: “Ruben used to sleep poorly. When I went riding with him in the Manta, he fell asleep after just a few kilometers. He was often angry when he woke up because he enjoyed driving so much that he felt sorry that he had fallen asleep. Now that he is a bit older, he still enjoys driving, but he also enjoys helping with the tinkering!”

Son Ruben behind the wheel of the Opel Manta.

Father Roger had and has fantastic cars

Because Roger Meijs himself is quite fond of cars, it is not surprising that Ralph inherited that love from his father. When Roger lists his car history, big names come up. “I’ve owned a few MGs, two Corvettes – a C3 and a C4 – a BMW Z3, ​​a Z4, a 645 Convertible with V8, an 850i with V12 and now I drive a Jaguar F-Pace. We also have a Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet, which my wife mainly drives.” With so many beautiful things in the parental driveway, it was inevitable that Ralph would take over his father’s hobby. Yet he sees a clear difference from his father: “My father gets tired of a car quite quickly. So I don’t have that at all. I have a thing for old stuff and I just thought the 80s were a really cool time. Many boys in the village rode a Manta at that time. A friend’s father had a gold-colored GSi. The Manta was popular among young people, and I also thought it was very cool. So yes, when I got my driver’s license I already knew what I wanted.”

Only 15 when he bought his first Manta

Ralph was only 15 years old when he bought his coveted Manta. “We would fix it so I could drive as soon as I got my driver’s license. That’s how it went. On the day I passed, I took the Manta out of storage. My first ride was straight through rush hour back to Maastricht.” In 1995, Ralph’s mother Tiny also bought a Manta, nine years old but with only 43,000 kilometers on the odometer. That Manta ended up in the garage as a DIY project for Roger. “After that I also put my Manta aside, because I thought it was so beautiful that I thought it would be a shame to drive it every day. My then parents-in-law gave me an Ascona as a daily car. The Manta became more of a hobby car, but I always stuck with it.”

The legendary C20xe, one of the best engines Opel has ever built.

156 hp in one go: the 16V without cat

Together, father and son Meijs pampered their Mantas in the following years. Often on grandpa and grandma’s property, where two of Ralph’s cousins ​​could also regularly be found tinkering. Ultimately, Ralph would take over the gray Manta from his parents and, with the help of Roger and an acquaintance, under the motto that things can always be a little better, and always a little faster. The Mantas are no longer original, but they are exactly what Ralph wants them to be. The golden Manta was originally a GT/J, with the 90 hp 1.8 liter four-cylinder under the hood. In recent years, Ralph made a GT/E from his Manta: “It has a two-liter sixteen-valve engine, the C20xe from the Kadett GSi and the Calibra. This suddenly gives you 156 hp, instead of the original 110 for the GT/E. That engine fits so well that enthusiasts believe that Opel should have simply released the GT/E with that sixteen-valve engine. After some adjustments I am now at 181 hp. And by the way, my car doesn’t have tinted glass, but other than that it’s perfect,” he says.

That’s right, for Ralph that not only means that all the right parts are on board, but also that the details are a little nicer and shine a little brighter than you would expect. “Within the Manta Club I have the image that I go quite far,” he says, “Maybe they are right.”

Gray started as a GT but now has a 3.0i 24V

The gray Manta is a good example of that apparently well-deserved image. It also started life as a GT, but now has a 3.0 liter six-cylinder under the hood. The 3.0i 24V from the Omega 3000 24V and the Senator 3.0i 24V. “There are wild stories going around about the handling of a Manta, if you put a six-cylinder in it,” says Ralph, “I knew it would be difficult to install such an engine, and that it wouldn’t be possible in one go. I also knew it would work. But I just enjoy tweaking things and getting them to work completely.” Patience is a virtue, because it took more than six months for the “six-cylinder project” to be completed. “The entire body has to be lifted off the front axle to remove the engine,” says Ralph, “it’s quite tight with that long six-cylinder in the front. You will always see: the crankshaft seal leaked and continued to leak, so I had to repeat the whole process a few times. Furthermore, that six-cylinder block is so heavy that the entire front axle collapses like a plum pudding. I solved that by installing custom shock absorbers from GAZ and springs from a Mercedes W123 diesel. Now it drives perfectly. It just took me a while to figure it all out. And then I also wanted to install power steering. That became the electric variant from the Corsa. By the way, the cooling system contains components from Volvo, and the rear axle has a limited slip differential and disc brakes from BMW and Volkswagen. The front axle has brakes from an Opel Senator. So it’s a bit of everything!”

‘Always people shouting Maaskantje’

Although Ralph drives by far the most kilometers in his daily car, a recent BMW 3-series, he is not considering parting with his Mantas. “The Manta Club tours and meetings are great, you have so much claim with these cars. I still enjoy tinkering. And every year, during the first ride after winter, I suddenly realize how much fun it is to drive such a Manta. Of course there are always people who say “Maaskantje!” shout when they see you, but you have to be able to handle that. Luckily I have enough self-mockery to find that funny.” The motivation to keep the Mantas simply never wavers: “Not even when I consider that I could have bought a Porsche 911. A 911 is nice, but it is not a Manta; nicer and better cars have been built, but my Manta’s have a history, there is a story behind it. I’ve known them for more than half my life. And soon they will be a very tangible childhood memory for my children. They are more than cars. My wife doesn’t think much of it, she sometimes wonders what I should do with two Manta rays. Sometimes my thoughts wander, and I imagine myself selling them and someone else driving them down the street. Then I get the chills. I really don’t want to think about that.”