Darren Frank and My Car Quest’s Mike Gulett blog about Alejando de Tomaso’s magnificent Mangusta that looks fast standing still, but not that much fun to drive. Frank actually owned one for three months.
I had been on a quest to find an Iso Grifo for many years before finding my dream Grifo, left with Mangusta, in 1989. The purchase of my DeTomaso Mangusta in 1990 was more of an impulse buy, if you can call purchasing an exotic, mid-engined Italian automobile an impulse buy.
When I lived in NYC in the late 1980's, my neighbor in the apartment next to mine was as obsessed about cars as I was (and still am). We were talking one day about cars and he casually mentioned that a friend of his had a number of unusual and rare sports cars stored at his beach house in Westhampton, Long Island. There was a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, MG-TC and a ’70 DeTomaso Mangusta, all purchased new by this guy’s Dad.
I quickly got the friend's phone number and arranged to see the Mangusta. It was bright orange (just like the Politoys 1/24 scale model) with a brown leather interior, and had very few miles on it. I just HAD to own it, having always loved the car’s Giugiaro styling and Ghia coachwork.
Intense negotiations followed, as he wanted $50,000 for the car. I offered him $40,000 in cash. After calling his accountant he got back to me and jumped on it! Next thing I knew, I was at my bank branch in the middle of Times Square, withdrawing $40,000 in large bills. I stuffed the bills into my underwear as I endeavored to make it back to the Manhattan apartment of the Mangusta owner without getting robbed or killed or both! Needless to say, I made it alive to my destination.
When I took possession of the car, above, right, my first challenge was shifting gears. It had a ZF five-speed transmission, but First gear was down and to the left, very counter-intuitive. Not only that, I actually couldn't find any of the gears! After stalling numerous times, I finally got the hang of it, but just barely. It was virtually impossible to see out the back window, as you sat (more like reclined) very low in the car so side vision wasn't the greatest, the angle of the front windshield was so severely raked that it seemed dangerously close to my face, and the side windows only went down several inches due to the extreme curvature of the door panels!
Once I got it up to speed on the highway, after about 60 mph, the car felt so light in the front end that I was waiting for it to take off like a Frisbee! Not the most confidence-inspiring car at speed. When it came time to stop in order to fill up with gas, I learned the hard way that the car had to be parked on level ground, or the rear center-hinged fenders wouldn't release. Thereby eliminating access to the gas filler!
File photo highlights max rear glass, mini visibility!
I owned this gorgeous creature for a short three months and decided I didn't need two sports cars, and that one would have to go. I chose to keep the Grifo over the Mangusta for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it was a more comfortable, practical and easier car to live with. The Mangusta was like a beautiful, wild, free-spirited woman: wonderful to admire from a distance, not so great to live with day to day. More than two decades later, I haven't once regretted my decision.
NOTE: Darren Frank is a longtime friend, IBOC member and owns an absolutely stunning Series I Grifo.
To read Mike Gulett’s Mangusta blog, please visit,
http://mycarquest.blogspot.com/2011/01/de-tomaso-mangusta.html?