Have you ever heard of the Qvale Mangusta?
Most people haven’t – even though it’s a rare Italian exotic car designed by the same person who did the Lamborghini Countach
If you haven’t heard of the Qvale Mangusta, we do not blame you. From 2000 to 2002 just 284 examples were built. The Mangusta is an Italian sports car that was originally going to be called the De Tomaso Biguá. Alejandro de Tomaso was a Formula One racing driver from Argentina who founded the Italian sports car company that bares his name. After suffering a stroke in 1993, he wanted to do something to save his company.
The Qvale Mangusta is a car that you won’t see very often. The car might have sold better if it was badged as a De Tomaso, but the obscure Qvale name probably didn’t help either. Despite this, the Mangusta was actually a highly rated car when it came out.
The chassis was so good in fact, that it was used as a base for MG’s flagship car, the XPower SV. For less than $40,000, it is hard to believe that you can by such a low-production Italian sports car. If you’re looking for an intro into exotic Italian sports cars this might be the way to go.
