The De Tomaso Biguà is a concept sports car manufactured by De Tomaso. It was renamed "Mangusta" instead of "Biguà" after its beginning to honor its famous predecessor. It was a De Tomaso from 1998 to 1999. However, it was marketed as a Qvale from 2000 to 2001.
History of De Tomaso Biguà
Alejandro De Tomaso was ill in the early 1990s, and his De Tomaso-Maserati company mainly went forgotten as a result. It was the vision of Maserati's top engineer, Giordano Casarini, to build a brand-new sports automobile. Because of Casarini's admiration for the TVR, the Ford V8 served as a base for his FR chassis. It features a retractable top that can be converted from a coupe to a convertible or a Targa according to your preference. After debuting at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show, the automobile drew the eye of the Qvales family, a famous US importer of high-end European vehicles. Qvale funded the development of the display car into a production vehicle, which would be renamed the "De Tomaso Mangusta." Because of the expected high demand from the American market, it developed a new assembly factory in Modena. In exchange, Qvale was granted global rights to the production and sale of the vehicle except in Italy and the UK. Qvale and Casarini eventually took over the initiative after De Tomaso's management situation didn't improve. Mangusta was the original name of the concept car when the company introduced the model at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show. With a wheelbase of 2670 mm and a track of 1590/1580 mm, the 2-door 2-seater cabriolet had specifications of 4194/1900/1275 mm. By hand, in most cases, there's a removable rear and side windows of the typical panel-Targa. Ford's presence may be seen in the dashboard components and the layout of controls in the interior decoration of the cabin. Low-cost trim components also missed the mark of trendsetters in the sports vehicle sector, such as Porsche. Compared to similar machines from European manufacturers, most of the design was comfortable and well-balanced in terms of the most critical metrics. That said, Biguà had to contend with Porsche 911, Qvale Mangusta, and MG CB in this class. Due to a lack of demand, the company produced just 500 units of Biguà each year.
Price
Qvale sold the 2001 De Tomaso Biguà (Qvale Mangusta) for $69,500, $112,826 in 2022.
Features
Standard features for the De Tomaso Biguà (Qvale Mangusta) include front and rear suspension featuring double wishbones with coil springs and anti-roll bars, Brembo ventilated discs on all wheels (ABS and traction control), and a power-assisted rack and pinion for the steering wheel. Leather covers the majority of the interior of the Mangusta. Visteon Automotive Systems supplied the interior electronic components. Many interior elements are shared with the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra to reduce costs. Antera developed the alloy wheels used on the Mangusta. In addition to its 'Rototop' roof, the Mangusta had several other noteworthy characteristics. If you remove the roof's centerpiece, you may create a targa. The transformation from coupe to convertible is complete with a fully retracted powered rear part. As if that wasn't enough, the center console of the new Mangusta included a Maserati-esque clock. Available exterior colors are Silver-gray metallic, Mangusta green metallic, Santorini blue pearlescent, Coral red pearlescent, Tigre yellow, and Midnight black. Interior colors include Black, Tobacco, and Cappuccino.
Specs
The De Tomaso Biguà engine delivers 320 hp (237 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 314 lb-ft (426 Nm) at 4,800 rpm of torque, accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 5.3 seconds with a top speed of 160 mph (257 kph) and a curb weight of 3,351 lbs (1,520 kg). De Tomaso offered the Biguà as a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) model with two available transmissions: 5-speed BorgWarner T45 manual and 4-speed automatic transmissions. A 4.6L Ford Modular V8 engine powered the De Tomaso Biguà.
Release Date
Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso unveiled the De Tomaso Biguà concept car at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show, and Italian automaker Qvale produced the production sports car between 1999 and 2002.