Best of Both Worlds: European Cars With American Engines

DeTomaso Mangusta

Although the Pantera proved to be much more successful and popular, the Mangusta is arguably the more interesting DeTomaso model. The Mangusta was introduced in 1967 and featured a special racing chassis. And a high-performance engine from the Ford Mustang in the form of a high-revving 289 V8 and a five-speed transaxle gearbox. It also had interesting Gullwing-style rear openings for easier access to the engine (via CI).

The Mangusta was a somewhat expensive proposition in 1967 with tricky handling and questionable build quality. That is why DeTomaso only built 400 of those gorgeous coupes until 1971 and replaced them with the more conventional and cheaper-to-build Pantera.