de tomaso Mangusta

Mangusta vs Corvette C8: The Drive

October 6, 2020 By pete

The Mangusta has a wonderful Italian driving spirit and the C8 Corvette is built with the force of American enthusiasm for performance.

By Dick Ruzzin

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THE MID-ENGINE CONCEPT AS ADDRESSED BY DE TOMASO AND CHEVROLET

The Mangusta platform potential was never realized, it came out before it was fully developed and production was stopped after 401 cars were built. That was done so that De Tomaso and Ford could start building the Pantera, mid-engine also but a totally different car. The Mangusta’s P-70 racing chassis was created by Alessandro de Tomaso and Carroll Shelby, but the iconic design by Giorgetto Giugiaro is so visually powerful that their contributions to the creation of the car have been forgotten. [Read more…] about Mangusta vs Corvette C8: The Drive

De Tomaso Mangusta vs Corvette C8

September 29, 2020 By pete

A half century separates the 1969 De Tomaso Mangusta and the 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette.

By Dick Ruzzin

What drives a company like De Tomaso or Chevrolet to demonstrate its soul by creating cars that will hopefully outperform those of its peers? To put its image on the line and be confident that it will win? To challenge what is considered the best in all the world and not be afraid?

This is really a story of two companies, one very small and one very big. Fifty years separate the two landmark mid-engine efforts, the Mangusta and the C8 Corvette. For Alessandro de Tomaso, it was very personal, as he wrote in the Mangusta Owners Manual. Fortunately, in the history and heritage of General Motors and Chevrolet, there remains a spark called Corvette, which still displays the very essence of what an automobile is about.

Herein, we examine both cars from an owner’s perspective. [Read more…] about De Tomaso Mangusta vs Corvette C8

Art and the Design of the Mangusta Part 3

July 12, 2016 By pete

A scale drawing of the production Mangusta.

Story and Photos by Dick Ruzzin

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Read Part 2

Be sure to watch this extremely interesting interview with Dick Ruzzin on Sean McElroy’s Autoline After Hours. The segment with Dick begins at about the 49 minute mark, right after the commercial. If you don’t know Dick’s background as a GM designer, you will be impressed.

Vehicle Architecture

The mid-engine architecture is very exciting to design around as it provides unique proportions that can be interpreted in profile with almost a single curving line. The Mangusta design is enhanced greatly by the architecture, the short overhangs, wide front and rear tread, the low front suspension, and the large wheels and tires encourage the design of a shape that is very idealistic. The architecture delivers proportions that are very dramatic and the idea that there is an inherent special high performance functionality included in the vehicle concept only enhances the simple, sporty and elegant design solution that was conceived and executed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. [Read more…] about Art and the Design of the Mangusta Part 3

Art and the Design of the Mangusta Part 2

April 12, 2016 By pete

Classic race car instruments and steering wheel design. Functional design with elegant execution to match the De Tomaso/Shelby P70 race car chassis. Photo by Dick Ruzzin.

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By Dick Ruzzin

De Tomaso’s Racing Vision

Included in the very small owner’s manual that accompanied all new Mangustas is a message from Alessandro de Tomaso himself. He makes a special statement to his customers, speaking to them very personally:

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Art and the Design of the Mangusta

March 1, 2016 By pete

I have written this article for the art and design enthusiast. As a car designer, I will explain the look of the Mangusta and how it is inexplicably tied to its function. My observations are based on my professional career experiences as an automobile designer for over forty years as well as my experiences with my own Mangusta 8MA-670, seen here. Photo Dick Ruzzin

Introduction

Much has been written about Alessandro deTomaso and his automotive trials and successes, including racing and production cars. One of those cars is the Mangusta, a car designed singularly by Giorgetto Giugiaro who did the prototype and the production version, interior and exterior.

I have written a small book using my design experience to give insight into the Mangusta design and why it is so special. Pete Vack and VeloceToday have graciously offered to present part of it on their site in three parts. Below is Part 1. My goal is to present the book at the fiftieth anniversary of the Mangusta at Concourso Italiano in 2016.

Dick Ruzzin, General Motors Design Staff, retired.

A Designer’s Mangusta

January 12, 2016 By pete

The Bordinat Mangusta had a rubber tipped nose, probably a hint at a bumper that would keep the body lines and still absorb energy, since laws about energy absorbing bumpers were coming up. Ironically Pininfarina’s GTC/4 used the same idea in the production car, introduced in 1971.

By Wallace Wyss

Detroit auto executives are sometimes enthusiasts, though usually they are quite happy to merely be given a new car, or leased one on a super deal, every few months. They like to spend their big bonuses on hunting lodges, cruisers and the like. The ones who own their own special cars are fondly remembered by car enthusiasts as being real car guys. That would include William L. Mitchell, former VP of Design at GM, who went so far as to have cars custom built for him by Design. A less well known enthusiast who was active in creating special cars for himself at the same time is the late Eugene Bordinat of Ford, who was born in 1920, worked for GM before moving to Ford in 1947. He was styling director during the go-go Sixties when Ford turned on the cash funnel to fund racing in every type of motorsport, from Indy racing to drag racing and ended up spending $10 million to win Le Mans, which they did for four years running in 1966 through 1969. [Read more…] about A Designer’s Mangusta

Kjell Qvale: 1919-2013

November 21, 2013 By Wally

Kjell Qvale. Credit British Motor Car Distributors

By Wallace Wyss

“Mr. Q”, described by newspapers as “a legendary powerhouse in the international motor industry,” died on November 1 in San Francisco at the age of 94.

His name is pronounced completely different from what you expect, more like SHELL CUE-VOL-A. I met him a couple of times, first when I went to his impressive office on San Francisco’s Van Ness Avenue to interview him about the period when he imported the first DeTomaso Mangusta to America. I knew when I met him in his office that he was taking the time to meet an unknown journalist to discuss a sensitive topic (and later, you could not mention “DeTomaso” without some friction….). But he was extremely helpful and honest.

Born in Norway in 1919, the son of a sea captain, he showed salesman’s chops early selling household items door-to-door. He migrated to Seattle in 1929 and went on to serve the US military flying transports during the war.

Soon after the war, he bought a distributorship for Jeep. About that time, he happened upon a fellow in San Francisco driving an odd little car. He asked where it was made and the man said “Britain.” Making further inquiries he found out it was a sports car called the MG. Duly impressed, in 1947, Qvale became the MG distributor for the West Coast, calling his San Francisco based company “British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd.” In 1953 Qvale, along with partner Reynold C. Johnson, gave his first order to Volkswagen Germany for 12 VW Beetles to sell in Northern California. Along with his brother Knute, Kjell started Riviera Motors as the sole Volkswagen importer for the Pacific Northwest in 1954, which eventually grew to over 2,500 Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi vehicle sales per month. He later became a distributor for the MG, for Jaguar, for Bentley, for Rover and brought back the name Jensen to America.

He was also very big in sponsoring sports cars in racing. I know he imported the first lightweight Jaguar E-type, one he wrested away from Briggs Cunningham, and if you look at old Competition Press newspapers there are hundreds of examples of cars he sponsored. He eventually reached beyond British and German cars to import Italian cars such as the DeTomaso Mangusta, and later Maserati, with the Bora, the Merak and the Quattroporte.

When Qvale caught sight of the Mangusta, he ordered 300.

He helped establish San Francisco’s International Auto Show. But more important to collectors, one time he thought of displaying some cars on the Pebble Beach golf course in a little informal car show and that eventually grew to become the venerable Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that takes place each August in Monterey. Being a racing fan he also aided in the creation of Laguna Seca raceway and is credited with the design of the tricky part of the course, the “corkscrew.”

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