Originally intended to be the savoir for the DeTomaso nameplate, what was supposed to be the Biguà became the Qvale Mangusta. Short on capital, Alejandro de Tomaso teamed up with American Bruce Qvale, son of Kjell Qvale, who was the first distributor of Jaguars on the West Coast of the US. Powered by a Ford 4.6 liter V8 in a front mid-engine fashion, only 284 were produced between 2000 and 2002, with all but 18 of these sent to the US market. It was an interesting vehicle, with a lot of Ford bits in the inside and an interesting targa top with a pivoting rear section to transform this sports car into a full convertible. This example for sale in Las Vegas has covered a scant 16,000 miles and looks showroom new.

2000 Qvale Mangusta

VIN NUMBER: ZF4AH01A4YM000036. New tires, just serviced. Dealer Brochures, owners manuals, magazine articles, all keys with FOBs. Noting Missing. Complete Mangusta. Introduced in the 1996 Geneva motor show, Bigua was arguably the last new De Tomaso launched before the company ceased production. However, Bigua was never produced under the name of De Tomaso. Instead, most people knew it as “Qvale Mangusta.” The Qvale Mangusta was manufactured Modena Italy, just like Ferraris, Maserati's and Lamborghini's, and penned by Marcello Gandini who also designed the Lambo Miura, Countach, Diablo, Bugatti EB110 and various Maserati's.

Chassis: Designed by former Formula 1 designer Enrique Scalabroni, who worked for Scuderia Ferrari, Williams F1 and Dallara.
Engine: SVT Cobra Engine: Double overhead cams, all aluminium V8 32 valve displaced 4.6 litres that produces 320 hp.
Transmission: Borg-Warner 5-speed manual transmission.
Suspension: Double-wishbones suspension all round with Bilstein (adjustable)
Brakes: BREMBO four piston calipers.

Tail light covers are metal mesh like the Ferrari Challenge Grills. It has a very special roto retractable roof, which could transform the car from a coupe to convertible or Targa. Tubi exhaust system designed exclusively for the Mangusta.

At $29,500, you can look at this car two ways: either it's an affordable exotic or an expensive used Mustang. Granted, an F1 engineer did the chassis, but there's a lot of Ford bits in this car. While the Mangusta was the swan song for DeTomaso and Qvale, in an interesting twist, this car's chassis lived on in the limited production MG XPower SV.

-Paul