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DeTomaso’s backbone chassis was
used for yet another of his projects, a
coupe bodied two-seater designed by
Giorgetto Giugiaro. This body, on one
of the chassis DeTomaso had built for
the Shelby project, was named the
Mangusta. DeTomaso’s feud with
Shelby never abated and the car was
so-named because the mongoose is the
natural enemy of the Cobra and is
often capable of dispatching the ven-
omous reptile when they fought.
DeTomaso stated at a press conference
that he planned to build 50 examples
of this car to comply with FIA require-
ments and compete against Shelby’s
Daytona Coupes in FIA endurance
events.
In a move that nobody saw com-
ing, the FIA cancelled all GT engines
over 3.0 liters and DeTomaso’s chal-
lenge amounted to nothing. The Man-
gusta continued as a street car, in
limited production with Ford’s involve-
ment, powered by a small block Ford.
It would later be redesigned by Amer-
ican designer Tom Tjaarda at Ghia
and released as the Pantera, and sold
through Lincoln dealers. Their impor-
tation ended in 1975 after 5,500 cars
were made. Production continued
until 1992, with about 1,500 addi-
tional cars made to non-US specifica-
tions.
For forty years, both the
DeTomaso Sport 5000 and the P70 re-
mained in storage in DeTomaso’s
warehouse. They were basically forgot-
ten. In May of 2003, at the age of 73,
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Part of Amelia’s festivities was the opportunity for cars in the show to be driven on a thirty-mile loop on the morning before the
show. Owner Mark Moshayedi jumped at the chance because it was first time he was able to actually drive the P70. He reported
that it was much quicker that he expected. When he came to the first straight section of road he jumped on the gas and it literally
snapped his head back. Doubtless that was a combination of the car’s light weight and brute power. It was an unexpected pleasure
seeing the blood-red P70 on the street.
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