Production and Launch
The first De Tomaso Mangusta was completed on November 10, 1999. On January 6, 2000, at the Los Angeles Motor Show, Bruce Qvale announced the return of the De Tomaso brand to North America with the new Mangusta. Also announced was the Mangusta's entry into racing, with Qvale Motorsports entering a car sponsored by Tommy Bahama into the BF Goodrich Tires Trans-Am Series. The Mangusta went on sale for 78,900 USD on January 20, 2000, with a single ordering option of 18-inch alloy wheels.
As the Mangusta was being launched, Alejandro de Tomaso was independently pursuing another design project (which was to recycle the De Tomaso Pantera name). Because the De Tomaso company was being financially supported by Qvale at the time, this caused disharmony between Qvale and de Tomaso that ultimately resulted in the decision to discontinue their cooperation on the project. The De Tomaso Mangusta was renamed the "Qvale Mangusta", and production continued.
Twenty-nine cars were manufactured for the purpose of crash-testing and homologation. Also, a partially completed right-hand-drive Qvale Mangusta was shown at the British Motor Show in October 2000. Ultimately, 284 cars were sold.
Read more about this topic: Qvale Mangusta
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