1968 apple green De Tomaso Mangusta in restoration at Three Point Four
This rare Mangusta was originally delivered to Florida, where it lived for 13 years. It was then sold on to a new owner in California who took the vehicle to pieces, bagging up and labeling all of the parts, with the intention of rebuilding the vehicle. Winding forward to 2003, the vehicle remained stripped and gathering rust. Initially considered only suitable for scrap, this vehicle is being rebuilt from the chassis up, to the exact specification of a 1968 car. During preparation of the bodywork, a section of the original paintwork was found and so the vehicle has been re-sprayed back to its original De Tomaso factory apple green.
1968 factory orange De Tomaso Mangusta in restoration at Three Point Four
Originally imported in 1994 from Texas, (we believe;) this 1968 De Tomaso Mangusta’s most famous moment was at the Malcolm Ryan studios in Wimbledon for Parlophone Records, when it was used in Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t get you out of my head“ video.
Having then been left untouched for many years, its new owners have placed the vehicle in the care of the Three Point Four workshop for a full ground up restoration.
As a handmade car, it has gone through several iterations of paint colours, and a number of makeshift repairs. The big ticket items have now been done including a new floor and sills. The highlights of the last several months have been a new central spine and water pipes for the central core of the car, together with new engine mounts, the repair to crash damage on the nearside corner which was double-skinned, various parts of the front suspension alignment, and most importantly the complete rebuilding of the gull wing doors.
Anyone who understands Mangustas well, and the part the gull wings play, will know that the handmade fit is an incredibly contorted affair, with matching points at four corners of the doors that have to fit to millimetre perfect, together with single spine hinges that take all the weight. The accuracy of these component parts forms the whole rear of the car. Progress is painstaking slow and difficult, the process is by hand and eye, but the original skins were very poor and finally our only answer came with re-skinning and completely making new large parts of the structure with hand-beaten and fashioned aluminium metalwork. From an engine perspective, we’ve taken the stock motor, (already converted to a long stroke version that gives more power,) on the first dyno runs. It looks like we are pushing out around 360 BHP, together with 340 lb-ft (pounds-feet) of torque, and these are good numbers initially. So as we enter the next steps of our journey, we are looking at the original Fiat burnt orange paint, as it appeared originally in Texas, and then the assembly of various components, interior, etc.
