This is what it sounds like when “JP Performance” gives free rein to his enthusiasm for the Opel Manta GSe RestoMOD or the “Black Widow”. And his audience loves his honest and direct observations of cars: the YouTube-Kanal on which Jean-Pierre Krämer (his real name) has been presenting vehicles of all makes since 2012 is the most popular in German-speaking countries. This is thanks to his incomparable enthusiasm, but also to his in-depth knowledge and expertise. The latest collaboration between the tuning entrepreneur and Opel has more than thrilled the community once again: the videos about the Opel Manta have a combined total of more than 1.3 million views.

Spirit meets expertise

For the video “Manta, Manta”, the crème de la crème of the automobile was carefully selected: Opel Classic expert Jens Cooper and Opel Brand Manager Peter Junghanns went through the Classic Collection and packed everything having to do with the Manta that they wanted onto a truck. Their destination was the LaSiSe, the abbreviation stands for Test Centre of Load Securing Selm, 30 kilometres north of Dortmund. Here, on the shimmering asphalt of the test track, a parade the likes of which had never been seen before took place: from the Manta GSe RestoMOD, Manta SR, Manta GT/E, Manta 400 to Manta GSi, everything was there. And as a special guest: the Black Widow. “JP had wanted to drive it for a long time, so we loaded it onto the truck too without further ado,” says Peter Junghanns.

▲ Manta, Manta: Opel arranges a unique Manta parade for “JP Performance”.

◀ Among others in the field: The Manta GSe RestoMOD and the Manta GT/E.

Of course, this was a setting made for the car enthusiast “JP Performance”. And so he talks shop and tests his way through Manta history for 30 minutes. One of the highlights: in a Manta GSe with electric drive, he had three sprint duels with Opel Classic expert Jens Cooper, who was behind the wheel of a green Manta SR. “JP” can only hold his own against the combustion engine classic car when he adjusts the torque of the electric motor with the help of the manual transmission.

“Give it all you’ve got”

Finally, “JP Performance” races the “Black Widow” around the track – the racing version of the Rekord C, once driven by icons like Erich Bitter and Niki Lauda. “It doesn’t have a speedometer, so you don’t know how fast you’re going,” Jens Cooper explains to him before he takes off. His reply: “I don’t care.” And at first he finds the black racer “really bad boy-like”, but then learns to appreciate it as a car that constantly tells its driver: “Give it everything you’ve got”. “I was very impressed by his know-how and his expertise in all aspects of the vehicle – chapeau!” says Jens Cooper, himself a great automotive aficionado.

A few days earlier, “JP Performance” had already had the opportunity to extensively test the Manta GSe RestoMOD – which can be seen in the video entitled „Der Cyber-Punk!“. “Looks brutal,” was the first impression, which the Dortmund native then elaborated on in the 20 minutes that followed. He is enthusiastic about the way Opel has combined modern elements, the Pure Panel for example, with a nostalgic driving feeling. Here, too, he brings his expertise to bear again and again: speed measurement in an e-car? That works with the help of GPS, he explains.

The two videos, the “Cyber Punk” and the “Manta, Manta” parade, have not only been viewed over 1.3 million times, 56,000 enthusiasts have also pressed the Like button. And since the community is just as enthusiastic as “JP Performance” himself, they have left comments under the videos like: