Qvale Mangusta

Qvale Mangusta

The Mangusta is a 1996 imagined car model that was sold in Europe, the USA and Canada under the label of Qvale. Originally the car should appear as De Tomaso. It was built by Qvale Automotive Group in a specially equipped factory in Modena.

History

Alejandro De Tomaso Mangusta was the construct to breathe new life into the brand De Tomaso.

The car was presented as a prototype under the name de Tomaso Biguá at the Geneva Motor Show 1996. The bleak financial situation of the company de Tomaso, which had only produced a total of 40 vehicles between 1990 and 1994, did not allow it, that de Tomaso developed the car alone for series production; for the same reasons was the development of the model Guarà, de Tomaso's recent favorite project stalled. Alessandro de Tomaso, therefore, sought a partner who was willing to finance the development of the new car. Such a partner was found in the American Kjell Qvale and his son Bruce. Qvale is an importer of quality vehicles become active and also rich with it for decades in America. He had been at the beginning of the 1970s, the British car manufacturer Jensen Motors supports and insolvency (initially) prevented.

An agreement was quickly closed: Qvale took over the new Biguá and received the right to produce the car in its own plant and sell for their own account. One of the first measures Qvales was to rename the car in Mangusta. From this traditional name, reminiscent of the well-established in the late 1960s, de Tomaso Mangusta the first series, he hoped for a greater attraction to potential customers. However Qvales was hoping to be able to market a new de Tomaso Mangusta soon zunichtegemacht early: Alessandro de Tomaso had contractually leave Qvale all possible rights; the right to designate the car as de Tomaso, however, was not among them. This negligence Qvales meant that the new car had to be sold almost anywhere as Qvale Mangusta. First cars were even supplied with De Tomaso logo that had to be replaced by Qvale signs but the merchants. An exception was for Italy and the UK: For these two countries, de Tomaso had the right to sell subject, and in fact appeared here individual vehicles as De Tomaso Mangusta.

The cars were manufactured in a purpose-built factory in Modena. 1999 appeared the first drivable prototype. Between 2000 and 2002 produced a total of 292 Qvale cars; most of which were sold in the United States. In the USA, Bruce Qvale started even its own racing series with the Mangusta. In Switzerland, three cars are reported: metallic blue / beige; silver metallic / black; mangusta green / beige. In Austria, a piece in silver metallic / beige.

The end of 2002 the production was stopped. In a market in which prestige is worth a lot of money to an unknown name as Qvale could not seriously position. The simple, not well-known and also meaningless name Qvale Mangusta was by match to most observers, a major reason for the failure of the vehicle. The rest is doing the external shape was described by a positive -minded commentators as unusual; others were simply ugly.

In early 2003 bought MG Rover factory and the technology of the Mangusta. On chassis, structural, chassis, engine technology and the Qvale Mangusta MG XPower SV built on its models and SVR. The support for the vehicles was taken over by MG Rover.

The Qvale Mangusta was a convertible with a removable tin roof. Closed, it appeared as a coupe. The middle part was - as a " Targa " - removable; the B-pillar, including the rear window could be shut down electrically. . - Completely open - the convertible one hand closed coupe, on the other hand " Targa " with open center section and standing B-pillar and finally Thus, three potential uses were

The body of the car was designed by Marcello Gandini. The designer was in close contact to de Tomaso; he had designed in the past decade some Karosserieabwandlungen for the Maserati Biturbo series ( including the Maserati Shamal and Maserati Quattroporte IV). For the new de Tomaso - coupe he found unusual solutions, which was marked by numerous broken lines. Gandini's trademark, the cutaway rear wheel cutout, also found himself on the Biguá / Mangusta.

The technique of the car came largely from Ford North America. Engine and transmission had been taken over by the contemporary Ford Mustang, and the electronics, dashboard, and many Einzelkompontenten came from Ford suppliers. Already here was the intention primarily to market the cars in the United States.

Specifications

Body

  • Chassis: Steel structure ( Box chassis)
  • Length: 4.2 m
  • Width: 1.9 m
  • Price ( in 2000): 85,000 Euro
  • The last model was a 4.6-liter automatic with the production number 289, color silver, leather tobacco

Landing gear

  • Brakes: Brembo
  • Wheels / tires: 17 ", 18" as an option

Engine: Ford / Visteon (Canada)

  • Light alloy V8
  • Valves: 32
  • Displacement: 4.6 liters ( 4601 cc )
  • Power: 235 kW (320 hp). Originally a further variant with 5.0 liter engine and 290 kW was provided, but was never offered and was later sold in the form of the MG XPower SV -R.
  • Transmission: 5- speed manual, taken over unchanged from the Ford Mustang. Contemporary reviews complained about the long translation of the gearbox and in particular the fifth gear that have militated against a really athletic performance development. Regulatory alternatives did not exist. The still initiated by de Tomaso development of a 6-speed manual transmission - either sequentially switchable - was set for reasons of cost.
  • 0-100 km / h: 6.6 seconds
  • Vmax: 250 km / h
  • Power: 191 kW (260 hp)
  • Transmission: 4 -speed automatic with overdrive
  • 0-100 km / h: 6.9 seconds
  • Vmax: 250 km / h

Gallery

Sources and links

  • Qvale Automotive Group, formerly http://www.qvaleauto.com
  • Sport car
  • Car model
  • De Tomaso
  • Cabriolet
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