The Manta: Italdesign’s Attention Grabber

After sculpting some of the most beautiful cars of the 1960s while working for Fiat, Ghia and Bertone, when the time came for Giorgetto Giugiaro to open up Italdesign and work independently, he knew he’d really have to let his creativity run wild when it came to his first car. And it blew my mind that I got to see that very car at the Concours d’Elegance this year, as it sat among an impressive lineup of Bizzarini machines.

The futuristic Manta concept that was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1968 was built around a modified Bizzarini P538 tubular chassis and driveline, hence its position among other beautiful cars from the now defunct Italian maker.

Manta-Pebble-16-02

The Manta introduced a whole new design language for the following decade, a sleek wedge-shaped car which in 1968 must have looked obscenely futuristic.

Manta-Pebble-16-04

The wide two-door features a split secondary rear window like a Lamborghini Espada, except there is no trunk to peer into here. Rather, there’s another way to get a glimpse of the engine that sits longitudinally in the center of the car.

Manta-Pebble-16-01

Those orange highlighted gill-like side vents now make a little more sense.

Manta-Pebble-16-03

The slits are there to help the four Weber carbs that feed the Chevy V8 breathe and develop the 400hp this 427ci engine was said to deliver back in the late ’60s. That sort of performance was good enough to propel the Manta to a theoretical top speed of 330km/h (205mph)

Manta-Pebble-16-10

The steeply raked windscreen (15 degrees) was quite a bold feature of the Manta and something that would be used on future cars sculpted by Giugiaro, the Lotus Esprit and BMW M1 being the most obvious examples.

But what really set this car apart was its row of three seats and central driving position. Remember, this happened 24 years before the McLaren F1.

Manta-Pebble-16-06

It might be bold to call the Manta the grandfather of the modern day supercar, but I’m going to do just that.

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com

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1

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2

nice

3

My Uncle Cole got a fantastic green Honda Ridgeline Crew Cab by working part time online from home



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4

Beautiful

5

Those ITB stacks under glass are pretty display

6

crazy car for 1968 way ahead of its time, looks like he got the 3 seater idea from the Ferrari 1966 365 P

7

my dad's friend recently bought an awesome twelve month old MINI Cooper Clubvan Wagon by working parttime off of a pc.
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8

Wow so many design cues here!

9

Amazing car, absolutely love the fact you can see loads of aspects that carry through to modern supercars on sale today, cool feature Dino!!

10

my Aunty Olivia just got an awesome Audi TTS Coupe just by part-time work from a laptop
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12

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13

im really curious how do get into this car. does the whole side window follow the door? no seem where the door begins in the front??

14

@olahola  that seems to be how it works

15

Lovely spot this , Dino. Love the colour too!

16
speedhunters_dino

JonathanW Thanks!

17
speedhunters_dino

Agent712 Don't get your fingers caught in there!

18

Concerning the door opening and the window, you can see it on this picture; http://mycarquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/BizzManta21.jpg

19
90nissanS13@my350z

OHH...the weber side drafts..

20
RichieTipsyKariuki

With modern technology you could become Edward Scissorhands.

21
speedhunters_dino

mrwicksy :)

22
speedhunters_dino

RichieTipsyKariuki LOL

23

how does one even become the owner of such a car? Luck? If I were to approach a manufacturer these days with enough money do you think they'd sell me a concept? (not that most of them work anymore)

24

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25

That is the arse of a Huracan for sure!

26

My Uncle Aaron recently got a nearly new black Audi S7 from only workin part-time on a home computer
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28

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29

My Uncle Jordan got a nice twelve month old Mercedes S-Class Coupe by working parttime from a computer... view website ......5newtime.comᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵ

30

Love the car see more at http://www.88-reviews.com/

31

breaking news usama is alive for mor info visit now http://tinyurl.com/Cnn-news23

32

This thing came with a chevy engine? bleh

33

Love the intake on the engine.

34
jbfromsiliconvalley

TT LSX swap....just to mess with the purists in their funny straw hats

35

Randall responded   that some one can earn   in one month on the internet .
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36

my Aunty  got a new red Audi   Wagon by work part time using a laptop.see more at----------->>> http://tinyurl.com/Usatoday01

37

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39

My Uncle Dylan got an almost new yellow Toyota Prius just by part time work from a laptop... see it here=====net.pro70­­.ℭomllllllll

40

My history with this car is so short! while this year Concours d’Elegance runs i just check this car on Instagram. I was in Shock, i couldn't believe the year of creation of this car, it's so advanced in design, at least 10 or 15 years! i start digging some info about it. But there is not to mucho to learn about, It still needs more modern attention. Seriously this prototype would be in my top 10 for the years to come. Thank you dino. Great job with the photos, the first one took all the beauty of this design. just a perfect synergy on this article.

41

JakWhite probably with a lot of work, contacts, patience, luck and of course money.

42

tommyzoom99 they could took that idea, but this design is so advanced! if you see the 365P you will see a 60's design. The Manta is just in other era.

43

what Melvin implied I'm amazed that a mom able to earn $5015 in 1 month on the computer . see here

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44

reix2x tommyzoom99  Another era indeed...1970s in fact!  ;)

45

Came back to say this car was featured in Archer lol.

46

Folly dares will be defeated cleverness hesitation.



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