Belkits Opel Manta - Toivonen 1983 Manx Rally

Henri Toivonen was undoubtedly one of the most versatile driver in rally history. His father,Pauli Toivonen, the 1968 European rally champion, had a major influence on his son who started his carrier in circuit racing. He started karting in early age and through many success he become European champion in Fomula Vee. Beside being a typical Finnish gravel and snow expert, the circuit racing experience gave him the edge to be very strong on tarmac rallyes as well. At 19 years he switched to rallying and drove several different cars like Simca, Chrysler, Ford, Citroen. In 1980 he drove for Talbot and with a spectacularly mature drive, he become the youngest driver to win a WRC rally, one of the toughest rally, the RAC in England. Afer Talbot quit rallying in 1981, he joined Opel which had a serious rally program with drivers like Walter Rohrl and Ari Vatanen. First they had the Ascona with some success but in 1983 Opel introduced the Manta 400. The car was very good but was a bit obscolete against the already successful Audi Quattro. Nevertheless, Toivonen, learning from his team mates, started to have some success with the car which suited his driving style. According to Vatanen, he was so crazy with the Opel that he won 6 consecutive stages in the night in Finland beating the Audis on gravel! Unfortunately his engine blew after this remarkable effot. The 1983 Manx rally entry list included Stig Blomquist with the Audi and his team mates, Ari Vatanen and the local experts like Jimmy McRae, Russel Brookes and Tony Pond. Toivonen was in the lead from the very beginning of this infamously tough tarmac rally, shoving his early circuit racing experience paying off well on those twisty narrow stages. Even Vatanen had no solution to prevent Toivonen to win the rally and accepted the second place. My build is a tribute to this epic victory.

I have started the Belkits Opel Manta a while ago. This was a long awaited plastic kit after the badly proportioned Narton resin. The kit is really good, although some strong parting line needs some sanding and filling. I've changed few parts for more accuracy and used the Renaissance photoetch for some details. For the Rothmans blue, I used Zero paint, after spendind around two hours for masking... I drew the graphics for this particular rally long ago and had it printed by my friend. Thanks again Petteri!!! :) I also changed the suspension springs, 3D modeled some Michelin TB tyres and my friend from Rescue Models 3D printed it for me. It will be available soon form Rescue Models :)



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One of my favourite subjects (Toivonen/old RWD rally cars/Rothmans/Manx) by one of my favourite modellers !

Nice, I am guessing the tyres are different from the ones in the Jimmy McRae kit??

And what about the rims ? The "so-called" BBS included in the kit are terrible.

Another fine subject choice from you Corrrado! Your builds are always a joy to follow with great workmanship, nice pictures and detailing that is accurate and true to the 1:1 version.
br
Mikko

Thank you guys for your kind comments! Malscar, the tyres I modeled are the same Michelin TB 15 but has a bit more dense pattern. In fact you can use the original tyres as well but I wanted something more accurate. Chris, you are right about the rim, it is not at all an accurate replica of the original Ronal wheel. I found the Renaissance 15" BBS as the closest match, so I'll go with them. For the rear rim, I'll use the original from the kit with some aftermarket wheelnuts.


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Desperately waiting for an update on these beautiful build and car ;)

Hello Chris, indeed it has been a long time without any update but unfortunately not much time for modeling recently. It goes much slower than I wish. However I made some progress on the interior, I sanded the dash flat and remade all the bezels and switches. Seats and steering came from the Beemax Audi kit since their quality is better and are closer to the original. Remade the extinguishers, and the handbrake, the latter is fitted with some nuts and wiring.
Seatbelts are made from some Ikea product label found on their textile products, paited with red permanet Chartpak marker. I added some padding to it made from styrene and fitted with the wiring from the intercom, also scratched from styrene. The Renaissance pedals, footrests and dzus fasteners are really handy as well as the thin rear plate covering the rear compartment.
Seats are painted with Humrbol 9 Antracit flat, - -to give some shade difference in the all black interior, glued the Recaro labels then sprayed with Tamiya matt varnish. The rear is satin black with some homemade Recaro factory labels. I put the decals on the body as well and added some extra Archer 88015 rivets around the lower intakes. All grill meshes were replaced with some fine mesh, since both the original and the Renaissance were too big and unsuitable. Doorhandles are from Renaissance, glued on a 0.75 mm styrene, to have the proper depth. Headlight lens were also changed from my scrapbox since the originals were way oversized. Still a long way to go, hope, I can finish it before the end of the year :)



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Corrado, this is absolutely gorgeous (forgot to react previously) ! I assume it's completed now ?

Opel manta is a fantastic subject. I think immediately at they guys racing the Nurburgring 24h with manta and the cute fox tail on the roof. :)

Super build as usual from you my Friend