It’s a damn shame that Welly’s 1:64/3 inch cars aren’t more widely available. Their catalogue is full of unique and interesting releases such as the Skoda 110 and Favorit, Wartburg 353, Dacia 1300, Volvo 240GL, and soon they’ll be the only brand to be making a first generation Lotus Elan in this scale. Obscurity seems to be their thing and they’ve already been a subject of a few of my Lamley articles; indeed a Trabant 601S was the subject of my very first article on these hallowed pages. As well as the individuality of their casting choices, the quality is also pretty damn good and I’m very pleased to be bringing you one of their newer releases today in the shape of the Opel Manta A.
I found this last year at a news stand in the Spanish capital Madrid and knowing how hard these things are to secure even in mainland Europe, I practically threw the €4.95 at the vendor. The Super9 castings are normally available as part of a monthly magazine which is titled something along the lines of “Classic Cars” or “Legendary Cars” depending on where you are in Europe. I’ve seen this for sale in in Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Greece but have only picked up the cars that have interested me such as a Mercedes 300S W188 convertible and this Opel Manta.
The Opel Manta went on sale in 1970 with production of the final ‘B’ variant finishing in 1988. The car replicated by Welly is the first generation ‘A’ model built between 1970 and 1975. Engine choices were a raft of 4 cylinder power-plants ranging from 1.2 litre capacity (in mainland Europe) to the range topping 1.9 litre models. The Manta was sold in various European markets and even made it to the United States where they were sold through Buick dealerships.
The Welly miniature remains (as far as I know) the only Manta in the 3-inch world since Schuco’s 1970s 1/66 version. And it’s a very cool little thing.
We’ve seen before just how much detail is crammed into these Welly cars and this one is no different. The grille and bumpers are separately cast pieces, the paint is good (if a little too thick) and the standard Welly “steel” wheels work really well here.
There’s a detailed interior visible and the decals and painted details are pretty sharp, but there’s slight alignment issues on the rear badging and on the front bumper. But regardless it’s a really good looking model.
It makes a great partner to the other classic Opel released last year by Matchbox; the Opel Kadett.
In my opinion the finish on the Welly model is better than that of the Matchbox; my example has decal issues and there’s paint blemishes aplenty. But the Mattel offering is a very cool thing nonetheless and remains one of my all time favourite recent releases from the orange brand.
That the Welly car can hold it’s own in this sort of company is testament to how good these things are. I’m looking forward to the Elan and Dacia 1300 even more now….
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(Find the Welly Super9 Opel Manta and Matchbox Opel Kadett on Ebay)
The Dacia 1300 is already available on Ebay from a Romanian seller but total price is £30 including postage! Very frustrating how poor/nonexistent Welly distribution is here in the UK for their 1:60 range but no problems whatsoever finding their bigger scale models.
Greetings Alex. Thank you for the latest update and it inspires me to locate an example of the Welly Opel Manta. Opel made a couple of beautiful cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s : the Manta and the GT. Those two cars seem to be underrepresented among diecast toy makers. I own pristine 1/43 examples of the Solido 171 Opel GT (in red) and the 188 Manta (in silver with black hood — or should I say bonnet?). It is a shame Matchbox never replicated either car during the Lesney era. Either one would have been a natural choice. Of course, Matchbox did introduce me to the Opel Diplomat. A car an American boy wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Of course, the Manta and the GT did see stateside sales. A childhood friend’s mother owned a Manta and I thought is was a beautiful car.
I am truly surprised that there have yet to be any Western diecast storefronts that stock Welly’s three-inch range. They have some of the best castings and most comprehensive ranges of any three-inch manufacturer and quite easily put other low-cost manufacturers to shame, if only they were purchasable outside of Eastern Europe. As a kid there was a Japanese dollar store (pre-Daiso) in Cupertino where I got their Bugeye WRX and CLK which I have prized for decades, and I was able to get their XC90 a few years back from a friend visiting Hungary, but now I need their Skodas, FSOs, Opels, and other Volvo castings desperately!