Lamborghini is one of the most recognizable car companies in the world. The famous “Raging Bulls” have produced some iconic supercars ranging from the Countach, and up to the latest, insane generation of hypercars such as their first hybrid creation, the Sian. The Countach came out in the 1970s, 1974 to be exact, and that era saw some other great supercars from the company such as the Miura, the Mangusta…wait, that last one isn’t actually a Lamborghini. But in fairness, it’s easy to see the Mangusta could be mistaken for a Lamborghini.
The Mangusta was a car that was designed by Italian carmaker De Tomaso, a company you may never have heard about. And when you look at it, it's eerily similar to the likes of the Countach and the Miura. So much so that, from an initial glance, you would simply think that it was a Lamborghini. But don’t be fooled into thinking that it is simply a copy of a Lamborghini. The Mangusta is much more than just a re-badged Countach or Miura, and has become one of the most collectible supercars of the 1970s, coveted all over the world. It’s a car that, when you hear more about it, is pretty hard to ignore.
Styling That Typified The Era
It's hardly difficult to tell what era the Mangusta comes from. The car was built between 1967 and 1971, and the 1971 editions are eerily similar to those cars from Lamborghini and feature the same long and sleek styling as those of its counterparts. The car replaced the company’s previous model, the Vallelunga, and the name Mangusta actually is Italian for “Mongoose”. This isn’t the fairest description of the car, as it is quite an attractive piece of machinery. It was remarkably just the second production car built by De Tomaso.
It can actually trace its origins back to the Shelby – De Tomaso P70 project, abandoned after Carroll Shelby pulled out of the project. Everything about the car was flashy, with the rear engine covers using a “gull-wing” opening sequence to allow the driver or mechanic to gain access to the engine. Under the hood was actually an American engine. It used the race-inspired Ford 269 V8 engine, and later on, used the Ford 302 V8 engine. So it had the styling, and it had the engine to make it a winner.
Low Numbers
In terms of numbers built, well, put it this way. It will be quite hard for you to spot one out on the roads in a lifetime. It’s hardly the rarest car in the world but only around 400 of them were ever made in total, and roughly 250 are left today with just 10 right-hand examples ever built as well. One of which was recently up for auction, sporting an incredible Ferrari TdF Blue finish. At its peak, the Ford V8 engine could produce somewhere in the region of 320 hp, meaning the Mangusta was absolutely no slouch at all.
Having an American engine under the hood, and a V8 one at that, led to an interesting juxtaposition. The car was marketed as a supercar, and indeed it looked like one. But the V8 engine provided by Ford gave the Mangusta more muscle car vibes, from the way it drove to the sound it made. You could actually argue that the Mangusta invented a whole new genre of car, the Super Muscle Car. Fifty of the cars were redesigned to accommodate pop-up headlights in the United States, following the expiry of a federal waiver that allowed the Mangusta to be imported into the United States. Of those 50, one of them was actually built with a Chevrolet engine, exclusively for GM vice president Bill Mitchell. Remarkably, that car still survives today.
A Prelude Of What Was To Come
Whilst the Mangusta might not seem that significant on the face of it, it is perhaps more so than you might think. The 1971 model year was the final year of the Mangusta, and was the ultimate iteration of the classic supercar. What it allowed De Tomaso to do though was to have a solid basis for what their next car would be. And they created the De Tomaso Pantera, perhaps one of the most iconic Italian supercars ever created. Another car that looked like a Lamborghini, it was their most popular model and over 7,000 were made in 20 years. The Pantera owes its existence to the Mangusta.
Worthy Of More Attention
It’s quite remarkable that a car so beautiful doesn’t seem to get the attention that it deserves. But with De Tomaso being such a small company compared to Lamborghini, Ferrari, and even Lancia, there perhaps was never much scope for them to really break out. The company’s final car was the Guara, and only 52 of those had been built by the time production finished in 2004. The Mangusta though was part of the golden era for that company. It was aggressive, it was fast and loud, and you can't not love the famous gull-wing doors that open up the engine bay. It might be easily mistakable for a Lamborghini. But quite frankly, it might well turn out you’d want a Mangusta over a Countach anyway.
Sources: Mecum Auctions, Supercars, Classic Driver, Pinterest, Supercar Nostalgia, Top Speed