Instant return to my childhood Hardcastle and McCormick

@-Jason-L

16 күн бұрын

Different car

@fobbitoperator3620

16 күн бұрын

@@-Jason-L Nope... kzread.info/dash/bejne/iqCgmMpxY7G4mqw.htmlsi=TL8OMFdphsKwpRXC

I remember drooling over the pics of these in Kit Car magazine as a kid.

@Paul-fe4vl

23 күн бұрын

I did too. Waited 32 years till I got mine. Then got a Montage T to go with it.

@dr.burtgummerfan439

23 күн бұрын

@@Paul-fe4vl Awesome!👍My tastes have changed quite a bit over the years, but I can't deny that they're still sweet looking rides.

@Paul-fe4vl

23 күн бұрын

@@dr.burtgummerfan439 They do draw attention! The Mirage is the one car that would literally stop traffic when I took it out. Had people stop in the middle of an intersection just to look at it. Now I've got to get busy and get it back on the road. Rebuilding it from the ground up with new suspension, engine, trans, etc. Loved the old CanAm cars and the Mirage was as close as I could get to owning one!

I worked for several years at Manta cars glad to see someone do a proper video on the car and company. I had the pleasure of being friends with the brothers and their family, very nice people. Also worked on a race team when Brad was racing formula ford. He also owned a Ford Pantera.

Hardcastle n mcCormick tv program 👍🏻👍🏻

@mgguyvintagevehicles

Ай бұрын

Yep, the Montage was the doner car for it. I loved both of these cars from Manta as a teenager back in the early 80s.

@sicosis

Ай бұрын

@@mgguyvintagevehicles 👍🏻👍🏻

@rarecars3336

Ай бұрын

Yes it was in that as well!

@randallwhalen3239

Ай бұрын

It was in the original Gone In 60 Seconds.

@cb913

Ай бұрын

I remember that show.

I owned the only Manta that was factory built with a rear wing molded into the body like the McLaren 2:36 It was red with a black wing. 327 powered and fast AF. I got it certified by the CHP, had a VIN # put on it, license plates and drove that thing everywhere. Absolutely NOTHING got more attention that that car. Thanks for the history lesson

@butkusfan23

Ай бұрын

Cool! What happened to it?

@iiiKingLongSwipeiii

28 күн бұрын

My how stupid you were to put a vehicle inventory number on the car you bought that was built from the factory and then contracting with a third-party department called the DMV to get license plates that are purely for driving 4 commerce... Super smart now you gave the DMV 1/10 possession of the private car you paid for through ignorance 😅... Never register the car with anybody unless you are making money on the side of the road with that said car because then you would be considered profit "for hire"

Kit Car magazines were a fixture when I was a gear head growing up, the Manta Mirage was a CanAm car for the street. Just awesome especially for the era!

Nice episode, well done. My Dad, Uncle, and I built a Manta Montage. I remember going with my Dad to the factory in Costa Mesa. Tim and my Dad worked together to put air conditioning in the montage. Dad’s car was number 37 in the production run and it was McLaren orange. I remember people following us home to ask about the car or take pictures. But that was a long time ago, my Dad sold the car to a Japanese businessman, he exported it to Japan. Well Dad I miss you, those were good memories, Godspeed.

For some reason alot of kit cars end up in Florida so I've personally seen 3 mantas and drove one LS powered. It was a go-kart from hell and handled like it. It borderlines on not being heavy enough for its own good. The front tires only suggest where to go and the ass end loves to trade with the front. The suspension parts are meant for cars much heavier than it is so that plays a part. I'd be terrified to seriously race one but in good hands it'd be unbeatable. Can't see shit driving it on the road so there's that. It has the fiero syndrome where you feel like you're going faster than you are being so low to the ground. I race supersport motorcycles and ride a liter bike on the street and that car scares me. For anyone with one, spend the money on sticky tires and good brakes because it doesn't have to weight to stop without locking up and sliding. Its cool to see you cover this car. More people know about sterling novas more often than this one. Nice video

@CreamAle

Ай бұрын

Ease of registration. You can register just about anything in Florida so it makes sense that they either end up there or had initial registration there. Plus the demographic of people living there, older folks with expendable income along with wealthier residents near beaches wanting a cruise car.

@ValkyriesMoon

Ай бұрын

@CreamAle you know that didn't occur to me. I've spent most of my life in Florida and South Carolina so my knowledge of vehicle regulations between states is lacking. Florida does have processes for kit cars specifically and no inspections. I just didn't put 2 and 2 together on that one lol. Good call.

@CreamAle

Ай бұрын

@@ValkyriesMoon yeah for sure. it's why CleetusMcfarland and the BoostedBoiz can have those wild cars on the road legally. Like that Tesla swapped odyssey or even Leroy, the previously exocaged Corvette he has. Florida is wildly easy for that stuff whilst California is one of the more tough states to get away with things like that. Cherish your state's freedom with registration, because that stuff will go away eventually, sadly.

@jakedode

Ай бұрын

Pretty sure you made all that up....😂

@francislutz8027

29 күн бұрын

You race Jennings GP or down south?

That Farmer from New Zealand just keeps on popping up. Bruce Mclaren !!!

@Nobody-oc4qb

26 күн бұрын

He was never a farmer, he came from Remuera in Auckland and his dad owned a garage. His kiwi contemporary Chris Amon however, came from a farming family near Bulls in the Manawatu.

As a young man I always wanted to buy one of those I had acquired the Corvair transaxle all the parts to put one together never had enough money to buy the kit I was going to build a 283 a high RPM I still have the original brochure

@alexclements5631

29 күн бұрын

Same here .

I built a mirage in memory of my daughter. With my son James and lost him at 24 Due to a medical emergency! He never got to see the mirage finished his ashes hang on the rear view mirror in the video❣️ he is with me❤️ It’s the orange mirage in the video! Super cool video I’ve never driven a car that you can drive 50 miles an hour plus around a 25 mph turn!I love it and will be passed down in the Lee family Kirk lee

@Paul-fe4vl

23 күн бұрын

I was almost going to send you the link Kirk. I'm glad you saw it. I still have to get mine back together and on the road. Hope to get more done this year on it. Then rebuild the Montage T as well. Paul

@mantav8gt

23 күн бұрын

@@Paul-fe4vl thanks Ron notified me on face book 😀 pretty Awesome

I still have my manta montage t!

Thank you for posting this! I've been a viewer for a while and couldn't believe when the thumbnail came up for this video! The Mirage was my fantasy vehicle when I was a teenager, and to be honest probably still is lol. There is one local to me here in southern Ontario, it usually shows up at the annual car show in my city. Keep up the great work!

@rarecars3336

Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! It is such a cool car especially with the custom chassis. I have yet to see one in person but hopefully I do some day!

I was, with a buddy at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in, I think, the late '80s when we came upon a red coupe. Knowing nothing of the car, and always curious but no touch-y, I rolled around on the grass poking my eyeballs as deep as possible into the car's nooks and crannies to see what it was made of. Peeking through a gap in the rear, I saw the unmistakable shape of a '61-'63 Buick 215 cu in alloy V-8! I had been collecting junk ones in hopes of mixing and matching good parts to end up with a set of decent internals that I could put into a good block which would get installed in a lightweight Chevy Monza/Buick Banshee I was planning. I had found, meanwhile, that the alloy heads and steel crank, from Buick's '64 Wildcat 310 would work with the 215 Buick block and Ford 2.3 liter pistons to enlarge displacement to 305 cu in. Adding Kenne-Bell valvetrain bits, lightweight steel flywheel, and oiling mods would make it all live at power levels above 400HP. That was the REAL Kenne-Bell...back when they were only about Buick performance parts, instead of the belly-button stuff they sell now...A full-on 455 Wildcat with Kenne-Bell innards and accessories was both a thing of beauty and a screaming beast at the track! By that time, I had collected enough of the larger '64 heads and cranks to make 10 engines but needed cash. What the Hell!...I wrote brief note about the mods, name and number, on a slip of paper and wedged it between door frame and body. A week or so later I got a call from the owner and we arranged to meet at the next event at the track we would both be attending. Somewhere in the Midwest, there is/was a Manta Mirage with, at least for a time, 300 inches of very light, tightly packed, Kenne-Bell enhanced, Buick power! A photographer by hobby, I have few shots of the car..one out on the track with a slow-shutter speed blur!

The ultimate kit car story I know about appeared in the Classic & Sports Car magazine from the UK when a Studebaker dealer (from New Jersey, I think) in the 50's wanted a new Mercedes-Benz 300SL gull wing, but only in kit form. Mercedes-Benz, for some reason, agreed so they sold him the kit. Unfortunately, for him, he died before getting around to assembling it. Some lucky guy bought it as part of a deceased estate, so he now owns the only brand new 300SL with zero miles on the odometer, albeit in pieces, but probably with deteriorated rubber parts.

@dancarter482

26 күн бұрын

The _ULTIMATE_ "barn find"!

There was a Manta featured in the original 1973 Gone in 60 seconds.

@mantav8gt

21 күн бұрын

also in death race i believe

@jackbower8671

13 күн бұрын

I remember now

Wow, that car looks absolutely brutal! Thanks for the video!

Another great video

I have had mine for over 20 years and still enjoy it

What an insane machine!!! 🔥

Great vid!! 🤜🤛

The only Manta I’ve heard before was an opel model...thx for sharing the knowledge.

@noth606

28 күн бұрын

Same here, and a legend on it's own, the crazy mid 80's racing Opel Mantas out of Germany in particular, Irmscher. If you aren't familiar, google 'irmscher manta' and go for pics - you won't regret it.

Good video, thanks.

Awesome video! I have never heard of the Manta company and their cars until this video! I have 2 suggestions, could you do videos on Mosler and Vector cars?

I remember these on the road…great looking and sounding

As a teenager my parents friend had one of those he was building and boy I wanted one! But he never finished it, unfortunately!

I commented this car on the 1963 z06 video lol. The Mirage is a dream car for me!

Great video man. You might think about investing into an isolated vocal booth or acoustic treatment for whatever room you are recording in 💯

Great video with interesting insights

@davidpawson7393

Ай бұрын

BOT detected.

Thanks for the trip back to the old days too the one stand out of the DIY era. I was so close to actually buying the Manta back then, really sorry I didn't...sure would look great sitting in between my 73L & 87 GT5-S Pantera's!

@Spiritof_76

28 күн бұрын

Now you are just bragging.

@512bb

28 күн бұрын

@@Spiritof_76 I don't know how much I'm bragging, I bought my 73 in 85 & the S 10 years later when no one really wanted them...should have bought Lambo's when no one wanted those.

@Spiritof_76

28 күн бұрын

@@512bb Sweet cars. When they were affordable, I was young and broke. Congrats, I'm sure they are a blast to drive around.

I saw an ad for this kit car in the back of a magazine when I was a teenager,I think it was either Popular mechanics or Hot rod but I wanted one bad.

Note to self... Do not gush about fiberglass production while the sparks are flying from what is obvious a spot welding machine tacking steel panels together.

@cdjhyoung

29 күн бұрын

I found this a good video story line supported by some seriously questionable background photography.

Actually remember spotting a few of these on the road as a kid in the '80s. I've also read about one called the Valkyrie that was big block Chevy powered, but can't recall that I ever saw one of those in person.

@rarecars3336

Ай бұрын

A big block Manta had to be CRAZY

@AMCmachine

Ай бұрын

@@rarecars3336 I looked up the Valkyrie again, it somewhat resembled a Ford GT40 and was made by an outfit called Fiberfab.

@mgbgtguy

Ай бұрын

The Valkyrie was made by Fiberfab and was intended to have a small block. I looked at one to buy 20 something yrs ago, but simply couldn’t swing it.

Thank you for an enlightening video on a great car. The closest I will ever come to one is the Manta that was in a friend's fabrication shop for finishing many years ago. I have a model kit of the Hardcastle and McCormick Coyote, which I believe was built from a Manta Montage, but I could be mistaken. Larry Landis

Those brothers executed on a great idea. I've always found the Manta to be too much of a caricature of the M8 McLaren for my taste. That said, the Montage was a spot on replica of the M6GT, one of the greatest looking and performing cars of the era. The tube chassis Manta with the trans mounted GM engine/transmission from the Chevy Citation platform was a noble successor to all those VW based kit cars. The Montage body molds were passed around after the devise of Manta and were still in small production as recently as 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the chassis jig disappeared with the company so you are now on your own to build one. The Montage would be a great kit car to be reintroduced in this era with so many engine/transmission choices available to propel that little car.

I had one back in 77 it had been a show car doors had been changed to 1 piece gull wing hydraulic along with the tail section I painted it black with orange accents and an orange hour glass on the roof loved that car

I got them to send me a catalog back in the late 70's, the Mirages were awesome looking. And boy how I looked down on that Montage, which was all the things that made people think kit cars were crap.

So THAT'S where "The Coyote" (06:43) from the 80s TV show Hardcastle & McCormack came from. Noted!

@-Jason-L

16 күн бұрын

Nope. It wasnt a manta

@fobbitoperator3620

16 күн бұрын

@@-Jason-L On the contrary, it's the exact model, just a bit different headlight fixures. kzread.info/dash/bejne/iqCgmMpxY7G4mqw.htmlsi=TL8OMFdphsKwpRXC

Back in the 80s I remember seeing what looked like a Manta in the Forney transportation museum of Denver. Does anyone else remember seeing this car?

I remember a guy that had a yellow mirage back in the 80s in norwalk ct. Cool car

I remember looking as a young boy getting back yard hot rods and , the kit cars 🚗 magazines .

I saw the short on the DeTomaso Longchamp, are you posting a full-length video on them soon?

My buddy bought one back in '74 and all of us in the shop pitched in and helped on it. Very nice kit except for the trans axle set up but he ended up getting a AMC proto type one at action in Michigan a year or so later.

I grew up with Kit Car Magazine. Still want a speedster C with a built VW engine.

3:18 that electric scooter part of the show? Had some nice rims. 🤣

I still have my red Montage that I bought over 30 years ago. In fact, I'm going to work on the Weber carbs this weekend.

I had a friend in the Navy who got out in San Diego and had ordered one of these and had begin assembling the suspension pieces when I transferred overseas and lost track of my buddy. I have wondered over the years if he ever finished it.

Nice, I remember them.

I lusted after these as a kid.

I didn’t know you can spot weld fiberglass

@glennoropeza3545

25 күн бұрын

You can't but you can bond fibreglass panels on metal panels.

the Montage T looks nice, that one in that cute blue seen in 7:25 and 7:39. i think the nostalgia behind these cars is what makes it awesome. what i want to see is a production sportscar with like 1000ci displacement and like 4000HP on the wheels, the engine bay behind the driver would be like three feet longer than for a usual V12 6.0L engine, that is not to long and eligible for driving on publicly accessible roads. there are factories that race to make the fastest production car, its strange that they then dont make sportscars with powerful engines like that, that much HP would be enough for like 310mph.

You should do some videos about Fiberfab cars 👍 Got a Bonito myself.

Very cool, a car for lovers, tight squeezed always in touch. This kit could be a nice project for an EV build.

The Manta Montage is the kit car I saw and wanted, in the back of a magazine when I was a kid. I, however, failed to read the "small print" which said you needed a Volkswagen chassis. Needless to say, and because I was only 10 or 11 years old at the time, I didn't get one.

I used to factorize about building one of these kit cars back in the late 70s and mid-eighties reading kit karmagazine.

have one that needs a good home. bought it new in 77, now i'm old, 71. tons of goodies, was finished, bought new things to fix inherent shortcomings, they need installed comes with a car rotator. YT won't let me leave contact info as my last post was deleted

Damn cool car never heard or seen it before.

Had a montage in Australia in the eighties one of 3 mantas that I knew of😊

Just the movie view gone in 60 seconds. Born in 1956 boy those were the days, well not to old to dream. Thanks yes I remember cheap gas. Dam opec and the days of gas wars in Joplin mo.❤ thank you!!

The Manta Montage had special chassis built by Mid Engineering with an Oldsmobile Toronado drive train!

I'd just like to get my hands on one of those mid engine tube frame chassis.

Cool video manta was a base car for McCormic’ s coyote x . Wonder if it could be fitted on a pont fiero v8 set up. ?

The gold manta montage and the blue one are v8 cars with 5 speed tranz. i own the blue one and my friend frank has the gold one that makes a you turn in your video.

Owned/built a Manta Mirage powered by a 3.5 liter Buick V8 (215 cu. in.) 1980-86. The Buick was aluminum block with Formula 1 racing heritage (won F1 in 1962 I believe).

Amazing car this car remind me of hard castle and mc cormick car❤❤❤❤

I'd like to see you cover the coyote from hardcastle McCormick show

Illuminating

Check out Factory Five Racing for modern kit cars - their 818 coupe kit weighs about 2200lbs or so and uses a Subaru WRX powertrain (though only the rear wheels are driven. If 270hp (or more, depending on mods) in a one-ton vehicle isn't enough, check out their GTM kit - LS V8 power and various Corvette parts to keep costs down, along with a bespoke body & chassis. They're not the only kit car builders, either, there are several other builders on both sides of the pond.

6:45 the Coyote X from the show Hardcastle and McCormick.

Cool

There's a Cosmo rotary turbo one in Brevard county fl🎉

The radiator up front is going to make the cockpit a very hot place.

They need to bring those cars back or something similar to them.

When I was a kid, I had a bed inside a replica Manta frame.

The Manta was on the original gone in 60 seconds ,stolen on a test drive when he swaps seatys with the saleman

@rarecars3336

Ай бұрын

Yes it was!

Manta, the closest thing you could get to a McLaren can am type car for the street, at least in looks. How fast is it well how actually good is the suspension and engine?

Kit car Coyote X looks similar to Manta Mirage, any chance seein story about it in the channel?

@user-pd8fj6np1k

Ай бұрын

Upd: found out by myself) it was jut Manta Montage)

I seem to remember a car called the Manta Ray from the mid-1960s. Don't remember much about it, other than the swoopy body, as I was only a kid, but I remember that it existed! How about a story on it?

@jimshoe402

Ай бұрын

Opel loved it But Rusted out.

@theflash1425

Ай бұрын

@@jimshoe402 You're confusing what I'm asking about to the Opel Manta sports coupe of the early 1970s. The Manta Ray of the mid-1960s looked much like the subject car in this video.

@Sherman62

Ай бұрын

Well, there was the Mantaray show car by Dean Jeffries, which was very cool but not so much like this. Or the Corvette Manta Ray of the late 60s.... Both were front engine but very swoopy.

@theflash1425

Ай бұрын

@@Sherman62 Thanks for the help, but none of those are what I'm remembering. It may have been called simply "Manta." I remember it being very much like the Montage in overall shape, but smoother, more amorphous. It may have been a show car or maybe even a concept. I DO remember it being made into a slot car and an early Hot Wheels.

We need small "kit car" manufacturers back.

Im surprised you didn't bring up the Cody coyote, the manta that was used in the 80's TV series hardcastle and McCormick where the car was the star, I still have my erytle toy car from back then, if I remember right the toy is dated 83, if your not aware some of the episodes of the show are here on utube, they used a few different drive trains and actually sizes of cars to make the show, but I can just remember thinking that car was awesome

@davidpawson7393

Ай бұрын

Damnit, I was trying to remember the name. I used to love that and BJ and the Bear among other shows at that time.

@whiteknightcutlass

Ай бұрын

@@davidpawson7393 BJ and the bear was awesome i got a matchbox sized rig like the one he drove in that series

@deanosborn3464

29 күн бұрын

Hardcastle and McCormick was on for 3 seasons. Loved season 1 (because of the Coyote) and remember eagerly waiting for the season 2 premier episode only to find that they changed the car. Hated the way it looked. Found out a number of years ago, the reason they changed it was because Brian Keith (Hardastle) had a hard time getting in and out of the car.

@whiteknightcutlass

29 күн бұрын

@@deanosborn3464 same here, they said by third season they were actually using remote control scale models for some of the stunts, there a channel here in utube I want to say it's car stars that tells the story behind a few of famous cars thru the years they covered the coyote, I just went back and looked it up it is carstarz channel and episode is 10 amazing fact about the car

@whiteknightcutlass

29 күн бұрын

@@deanosborn3464 I agreed loved that car when I first seen it, they said by season 3 they were using scale model remote control cars for some of the stunts, if you go to carstarz channel and go to episode 10 wild facts about McCormicks coyote x , it tells some of the history, they also cover alot of other famous movies and TV cars pretty interesting

Please correct me if I’m wrong but the front windshield looks like the back window out of a 78 Corvette

My great uncle, (Grandma's brother), built one. I think he bought it from an individual in unfinished condition. He was in his sixties when he started. It took years to correct the things he felt were wrong and complete the project. He did finish it. However, i think he was too old to enjoy it. Later, as his health failed, I tried to buy it when the family began to talk about selling. I couldn't close a deal and it went to someone outside the family. I never got to hear it run. Sad really.

@DIARRHEA-PANIC

Ай бұрын

Pretty typical story unfortunately

Essentially “The GT40 exists but it’s more of a racecar This on the other hand was based on a McLaren CanAm so it’s way more street oriented”😂

Reminds Me Of an *ULTIMA RS* SuperCar.

Subbed. Nice video

I want to build a Coyote. I want a Montage. Where could I buy one?

Umm the video showed steel body parts being welded together while the voiceover described fiberglass?

GT40 was designed in England, only tuned by Shelby under Ford badge

A drug dealer by the name of Spencer had one of these in Bricktown NJ during the '80s. He eventually got arrested and his Manta Mirage sat in the parking lot by the Bricktown PD for a few years. After all that time parked outside it was a basket case.

May have completely missed The Pantera..that was our first supercar.

I can see it now. Mantas with LS engines. It does seem appropriate.

I think I'd rather have a 1,000 hp ariel atom! That Honda k series turbo with only 650 kg! The guy that built it drew a line across the rim and tire and noticed wheel slippage in the tire lol.

Rip Brad, too bad case they didn't keep going.

And this is where the cartoon speed racer got the idea and their cartoon car from

"...faster than ANYTHING!" How fast were them?

The SLC of the 70s

Neat cars -- however they were NOT faster than a Pantara. The problem with them is that the Corvair transaxle and transmission will blow to bits the moment you punch the gas, the suspensions were so horrid that the handling sucked, and the brakes were not good so stopping wasn't the greatest either. I've seen one with a ZF 5 speed transaxle in it and that addressed a lot of the issue, and now I see guys putting Porshe Boxster 6spd transaxles in them - which is probably even better. The other problem is the looooooong overhang in the front of the car makes it impossible to navigate speed bumps, steep inclines, or even go over a curb to enter a driveway. Still though -- neat looking beasts.

What about the Vector?

@03:03 i really hope that mobility scooter is being exhibited

Ferrari must have been worried 😂😂😂