Video: Tom Conner
(1.4 Meg)
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| Owner |
Chuck Kane |
| Location |
California, USA |
| email |
- |
| Web Page |
- |
| Year |
1986 |
| Car |
Mirage |
| Color |
Lazer Red |
| Builder |
Hot Rod Heaven, Temecula, CA |
| Chassis Type |
other |
| Chassis Number |
- |
| Engine Make |
Chevrolet |
| Displacement |
327 C.I. Donovan Aluminum |
| Transmission/Transaxle |
ZF with Kennedy adapter |
| HP |
450 |
| Front Suspension |
Mustang II / Koni |
| Rear Suspension |
Custom fabricated, race car style/Corvette |
| Steering |
- |
| Interior |
Vinyl |
| Notes |
In 1969, when I returned from Vietnam, I shared a house in Manhattan Beach, CA with Brad Lovette. This Manta was one of the later factory kits with Jongbloed wheels and the show car interior. It was professionally built into a street car by a shop in Temecula, California. The rear body section has been converted back to the original M8B roadster style. The car was/is street legal, registered, insured and driven weekly in California, and even passed a smog check recently. It has a Donovan aluminum Chevy small block (around 450 HP) with aluminum heads, Crane, Edelbrock, Mallory, etc. The transaxle is a ZF 5-speed (Pantera turned unside down) with Kennedy Engineering adapter. Most everything from the roll bar back is custom fabricated, race car style, and is chromed, polished aluminum or stainless. This car was very nicely assembled by a man who obviously loved fast cars and spared no expense. But it had been driven only 800 miles and sat gathering dust in a Bakersfield, California warehouse for years (the proverbial lost car in the barn).
I spent a year and a half disassembling, cleaning, upgrading, and modifying the car, including the addition of a Can-Am style wing (mounted to the chassis not the body, like the race car). Today it looks very much like the Lothar Mochenbacher #11 McLaren M8B Can-Am car (see the GMP model in red) and is a real thrill to drive on the street. At car shows it draws more attention than even the Cobra replicas because it is so unique. This is the kind of car-guy fun that Brad had in mind 30 years ago when he set out to build Manta Mirage cars.
Former Owner: Tom Conner |
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