Alejandro de Tomaso was born in Argentina, but moved to Italy in 1955 in the midst of the anti-Peron upheavals. There he drove OSCA racecars for the Maserati brothers and developed his first car, the Vallelunga, in 1963. It was a mid-engined, Ghia-bodied coupe with backbone chassis and English Ford engine. Only about 52 were ever made. In 1967 with the help of Carroll Shelby, DeTomaso released the Mangusta. Giorgio Giugiaro designed the car and Ghia made the body panels.

The Mangusta followed the overall concept of Eric Broadley’s Lola Mk 6, which evolved into the Ford GT40. It placed an American Ford V-8 amidships, with a rear transaxle and a backbone chassis. The design falls somewhere between Marcello Gandini’s sinuous Lamborghini Miura and the later De Tomaso Pantera. The 302-cid Ford V-8 -visible under two almost horizontal clamshell rear windows – generates 230 horsepower, enough to push the car from 0- to 60-mph in 6.3-seconds, through a 15-second 1/4-mile at 94-mph, and to a claimed top speed of 155-mph. It is reported 401 Mangustas were built, only 150 of those being the desirable European version.

The Mangusta being offered is one of the only 150 examples built for the European market. It has been with one Southern Californian since 1985 who purchased the vehicle in Germany. At the time of purchase, the car was white, but it was found that the car was originally blue. Soon after the discovery, the vehicle was repainted in its factory original color of Blue Metallic. After 45 years, this car still remains extremely original. Even the tires are reportedly original to the car. This example has a Ford 289 V-8 engine that only has about 100 miles on the freshly rebuilt unit and is ready for many more years of enjoyment.