We typically don’t show cars as new as this 2001 Qvale Mangusta here on Barn Finds but some stealthy reader sent in this unusual tip and we couldn’t resist. After all, being a 2001 model makes this car 19 years old now which is older than a decent percentage of readers. This rare red rocket is listed here on eBay in bustling Dallas, Texas and there is a $26,000 price listed or you can make an offer.
What I wouldn’t give to be 19 years younger than I am now. If you think about all that’s happened over the last two decades, 2001 is actually quite a long time, relatively. How many of you have changed jobs or even changed careers since then? How many of you had kids or grandkids over the last 19 years, bought a house or a vacation house or motorhome, or… collector cars? A lot of water has gone under the bridge since this unusual Italian-American exotic was made.
Qvale (ka-Voll-e) was a short-lived Italian car company that made the Mangusta (man-Guust-uh) (kidding, you knew that one) for model years 2000 through 2002. Only 284 cars were made before hard times hit and the company was sold to MG Rover Group. The seller says that this car could use a respray at some point but it’s perfectly usable the way it is, it’s just not up to the quality of what it should be.
The history of the company, in a tiny nutshell, is that legendary designer, de Tomaso, wanted to revive his company with the de Tomaso Biguà but they ran into financial trouble. In stepped his new partner, Bruce Qvale, a US importer of exotic cars. The two split their partnership just as the first de Tomaso Mangustas were being delivered with de Tomaso badges and those had to be removed and replaced with badges showing the new name: Qvale Mangusta.
It’s unfortunate that the seller hasn’t included a photo with the top down. Yes, these cars had an unusual convertible top. Here is a similar car with the top down. It was known as a roto-top and the center section was removed and then the rear Targa-like portion rotated forward and behind the seats. The interior looks pretty much like new in this car and the back seat is more of a package shelf than a usable seat. This one has the 5-speed manual but 55 cars were equipped with a 4-speed automatic.
Hey, that ain’t no fancy I’talian engine! You are correct, oh slim one. This is Ford’s 4.6L double-overhead-cam V8 with 320 hp. You may be thinking, hey, the de Tomaso Pantera had a Ford engine, too! You are correct, oh wise one. The Qvale Mangusta is really an interesting car, one that any gearhead worth their weight in motor oil should be excited about. Have any of you owned one or even seen one in person?
Interesting find. I don’t remember these. Looks
Like Mustang gauges and some Switches and knobs our of the Fors parts bin also. I want to say the whole dash and steering wheel look like Ford, but I can’t place it.
That steering wheel looks like the one on my Contour SVT many years ago.
A very rare steed indeed. Saw one in the wild once, and that Ford V8 scream is unmistakable. Most of the interior bits are sourced from Ford……which means replacing odds and ends isnt hard to do.
I remembered this as the race car from the Trans Am series in 2000. Never saw the street variant. Nice-looking ride. Make mine green.
Yeah, Boris Said drove one of these for TA! Good memories.
Someone should find the ugly stick they used on this thing and register it as a lethal weapon.
lol!!!!
I saw one, probably brand new, in a parking ramp near Ghirardelli Square in S. F. in spring of ’01, same color and all. My teen-age son went a little crazy, and wanted to stick around in case the owner happened to come back. Never got to hear it run though.
Kjell Qvale opened the first British car dealerships in the SF Bay Area and was quite the sports car enthusiast. Look him up.
This De Tomaso + Ford = ugly! Sorry but there is a reason this company went out of business.
These look kinda kit-car-ish because they were targeting TVR buyers with them.
Expensive and rare, but completely unappealing. I think the dash is straight out of a Mustang.
The only De Tomaso/Ford collaboration that was even remotely successful was the Pantera. Italian design. Ford drivetrain. There have been a few decent and many poor efforts to resurrect this kind of collaboration…but pretty much all of them have failed. The effort and funding required to build this, or even re-body a Ford, must have been incredible and it takes major involvement from a major player, which apparently didn’t happen in this case. Oh well.
Having owned both a ’99 and ’01 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra convertibles, I can assure you this is not a bad place to source a drivetrain. The switchgear, steering wheel, center console, and even the seats look like standard issue Ford kit (but I’ll bet the leather is much nicer). If you get past the bloated catfish face, this may not be a bad car to invest in. Your certainly not going to run into another one at the next Cars and Coffee event!
Last all orange interior you could get in a car?
Even firebird III turbine car lost its orange seats, etc. when it was “restored”!! They thought no one would notice.
Hey Scotty, no need to bashfully introduce a 19 year old car.
I’d never heard of it before and I’m probably not the only one.
The more variety the better.
I saw one of these in the Laguna Seca paddock while I was there for an SCCA or IMSA event. I think I saw another one at a car show at John Force’s museum. Always liked them.
I had two of these at one time. They have the SVT Cobra engine in them. Did many car shows and got a great response all the time. Yes a bit odd looking, but tons of fun.