Qvale Mangusta History

The Mangusta traces its origins to the De Tomaso Biguà, a concept car shown at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show. The project was conceived as 'an Italian TVR' — a lightweight, affordable V8 roadster aimed at the same enthusiast niche as the TVR Griffith. Legendary designer Marcello Gandini was commissioned to style the car; he was reportedly driven around in a Griffith before starting work, and the brief included a multi-position folding roof akin to the Griffith's, which evolved into the Mangusta's signature 'roto-top' mechanism.

When De Tomaso needed capital to move into production, the Qvale family — long-time US importers of Italian cars including the original De Tomaso Mangusta of the 1960s — became the financial backers. Bruce Qvale developed the production facility: a renovated, ISO 9001-certified building in Modena. After disputes over licensing and distribution arose between the two parties (De Tomaso was simultaneously pursuing a Pantera revival), the partnership dissolved. Early cars were delivered as De Tomaso Mangustas; subsequent production carried Qvale badging exclusively.

Under the skin, the Mangusta used a chassis engineered by former Formula 1 designer Enrique Scalabroni (ex-Williams, Ferrari, Dallara), achieving a torsional rigidity of 1,450 kg·m/deg — more than four times the figure typical of open cars of the era. Power came from Ford's 4.6-litre aluminum DOHC V8 (shared with the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra), producing 320 hp and 314 lb-ft of torque, driving the rear wheels through a BorgWarner T45 5-speed manual or an optional 4-speed automatic. The car launched at $78,900 in January 2000 and was capable of 0–60 mph in 5.3 seconds.

Sales were slow — hampered by a no-name brand, an unusual aesthetic, and a softening US economy. In October 2000 Qvale cut the price by nearly $10,000 for the 2001 model year. In June 2001 MG Rover acquired Qvale Modena S.p.A. — including the platform, tooling, and Modena factory — for a reported £7 million, intending to use the Mangusta architecture as the basis for a halo MG sports car. That car became the MG XPower SV. In total, 284 Mangustas were built between 1999 and 2002, the vast majority exported to the United States.