[DeTomaso] Mangusta Project?

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/2/09 13 54 40, Pantera007 at provamo.com writes:


> 
> Who was looking for a Mangusta project?
> 
> One 'box-car' has recently been added to the Registry.
> (box-car = car in a box.)
> 
> One photo of it appears on the welcome page. 
> 
> I don't remember if
> this car is really for sale or not...  Mike Drew, can you refresh me
> on this car?  If for sale I'll need to create a For Sale ad page...
> 
>>>Yes, it's for sale.
> 
> You called it Mountain Mangusta II (or III) I believe.
> 
>>>Yes.   It was purchased something like 25 years ago by a dentist in 
Incline Village, NV (on the shore of Lake Tahoe).   He drove it for a couple of 
years, then realized that it was riddled with rust, and decided to do something 
about it himself.   He completely dismantled it, mounted it on a rotissierie, 
and started hacking away metal.   Floorpans, rockers, forward part of the 
quarter panels, all got hacked out, and he started doing some rust repairs, but he 
quickly ran out of steam.

He was under the impression that the rear part of the chassis was 
under-built, which accounts for the car's notorious handling, so he contracted with a 
company that does fabrication for mining operations (!) to re-fabricate the 
entire rear portion of the chassis in heavier-gauge steel.   This appears to have 
been done in an expert fashion; in fact you can't even tell that it's different 
by looking at it, other than the fact that it's painted.   They returned the 
car to him along with the old chassis, which he dumped on the side of his 
house; it's been sitting there for the better part of these 20 years.

For this, by the way, he was charged an outrageous amount of money, on the 
order of $10,000!!!!!!

Anyway, the car is complete, except that it's missing two parts--the driver's 
side window, and....and I forget what the other one is.   It comes with two 
engines I believe; the stock motor is present, and the guy bought a souped-up 
289 originally built for a Mustang, if my memory is correct.

All the other bits are there--wheels, even the original spare, ZF, interior, 
etc. etc. etc.

The fellow lost interest in the project and it has laid untouched in the 
basement of his house for at least 15-17 years.   He further lost interest in the 
USA, and abandoned the house and moved to Mexico!   (Who abandons a $2 million 
house???)

After months of trying to track him down, Reno-Tahoe Panteras president Jim 
Nowlin was finally successful, and the owner has agreed to let Jim broker the 
sale.

I believe the asking price is in the $20K neighborhood.   Although the car is 
rusty, and would take some expert fabrication to complete, it is all there, 
and it would be a shame to see it broken apart for bits.   But at some point, 
the pieces become more valuable than the car as a whole, so I doubt he'd sell 
it for less than $15K or so.
> 
> >BTW:  I change the "Welcome Page Pic" at www.ProvaMo.com regularly with
> whatever strikes my interest as photos are sent in.  Sadly I get way more
> worthy photos than I can actually place on the welcome page even if I
> change it daily.
> 
>>>I will forward the photos that I took of this Mangusta barn car.   Due to 
the cramped confines and the fact I didn't have my camera with wide-angle 
lens, it was very difficult to get any decent shots of the car.
> 
> The next photo to display may be of Isabel deTomaso alongside a Mangusta.
> 
>>>Hmm, interesting!

Mike


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