As can probably be surmised from my livery of the Mangusta, I too, didn't have a good first impression of the car. I had even wanted to have my special challenge entry to just be the review of the car, but seeing everyone dog pile on the Mangusta made me want to play devil's advocate a little.
Taken on its own, the Mangusta is a torrid drive. It's a pricey LCD exclusive, flops about like JTG selling The Cobra, and takes longer than a bobble head accessory to stop, making it extremely difficult to coax any consistency out of, if not an outright hazard to drive. The steering wheel feels less connected to the front wheels and more to a binary light switch; past a certain steering angle, the rear end just lights up and gives out, and once this car starts sliding, good luck getting it back with its 32:68 weight distribution propped up on the expired pasta they call "springs". But this is precisely why I always like to bring comparison cars to pit against the Car of the Week: context.
The Shelby G.T. 350 is a stripped out homologation model, and it still weighs more than the Mangusta. It takes a similar age to stop, flops about as well, and it will shred its inside rear tyre out of a turn just to keep reminding its driver of its wide open diff. The Mangusta in comparison, has a monstrous launch thanks to its extremely rear biased weight distribution, and keeps pulling at speed with its extremely close and short 4th and 5th gears, the latter of which an obscure rarity among its contemporary peers. While the suspension setup is soft enough to make the Mangusta stargaze on power, what that also means is that the Mangusta puts down its power really well if treated gently and set up for corner exits properly, its explosive power, rear mass bias, and a locking rear diff always inviting the driver out for just a bit of fun.
At roughly 333k, the base Mangusta is by no means cheap, especially if one fancies the tan interior of the Dior version that costs a whopping half a million. But, among the cars I've shortlisted to be interesting comparisons, the base Mangusta was the cheapest by quite a margin!
De Tomaso Mangusta — 333k
Dior Mangusta — 500k
Shelby G.T. 350 — 500k
Mazda RX500 — 600k
Porsche 901 Carrera RS — 745k
*Prices are as of time of writing when the car last appeared in the LCD. Like, duh.
And here's what a quick, impromptu time attack around Laguna Seca yielded for me:
Porsche 901 Carrera RS — 1:43.0
De Tomaso Mangusta — 1:44.0
Mazda RX500 — 1:45.3
Shelby G.T. 350 — 1.47.4
So, first cheapest, second fastest. Not bad at all, I don't think!
But why did I shortlist these few cars in particular to pit against the Mangusta? Well, the G.T. 350 is simply the Shelby that's closest in performance to the Mangusta, and seeing that the Mangusta was implied to be named as such after Carrol Shelby pulled out of a collaborative effort with De Tomaso, it just seemed like a must. The RX500 is similarly a RMR LCD exclusive from the same time period, even having gullwing doors for its engine compartment like the Mangusta. The 901 is... well, most probably the single best sports car in the game, and I really needed to find something that can beat the Mangusta. It took a car costing well over double the Mangusta to beat the Mangusta and gripper CS tyres by default to do it!
The Mangusta may be wont to go the full 180 on me during those comparison tests, and yet somehow, my opinion on the Mangusta similarly 180–ed after these comparison tests gave me some context of the performance of its contemporary peers. See what a little context can do? I know you haven't clicked on that link earlier showing JTG selling the Cobra. Here it is again. Watch it now. I'm watching you. From behind. Always.
I think most people expect, prepare for, and more readily forgive classic muscle cars for their very upfront flaws. The De Tomaso Mangusta, wearing a relatively unknown Italian badge and slinging its NA V8 aft the cockpit, doesn't beget the same understanding and preparedness from its driver. Treat it as though a rear mid–engined muscle car with Italian styling, though, and I think the Mangusta will really start to shine, especially if treated with the same fear and respect that comes with classic pony and muscle cars. And hey, it will keep pulling beyond the quarter mile, and comes with a locking diff as standard! Granted, it's not a car that I will wake up one day yearning to drive, but at the same time, I'm willing to drive it for more than one race, which is more than what I had been willing to do for the Chaparral 2J and Dodge Demon.
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