Bella Mangusta
The Italian Art and Design of the De Tomaso Mangusta.
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The restraint that Giorgetto Giugiaro used in executing the interior and the exterior themes has resulted in a vehicle design that seems very natural as it encompasses the wheels, passengers, luggage, and engine compartments. The surfaces are very well done, harmonic, and consistent, but are also emotional and sensual in their execution. >IMAGE-52-26-5.0” X 3.5” The Mangusta's rear quarter is a study in functional sculpture as it wraps over to encloses the engine compartment. The three louvered air intakes are similar to the design of the vents on the Iso Fidia that Giugiaro designed just before the Mangusta. There is also a direct and common character that is shared between the design of the interior and the exterior. The design of the Mangusta also beautifully states the mission of the vehicle, that is, the appearance promises the excitement of high performance, and it clearly displays the mid-engine concept. The Mangusta design theme does not try to make the car look dramatic, however, it becomes so naturally because of its proportions and clear design simplicity. It is a visual statement that is very easy to look at and easy to understand, and consequently, very memorable. This is a key element to the Mangusta design’s continued success through time. The shape when introduced was very new and fresh. It looked forward from the very rounded heavy shapes of the early sixties to a new era of sleekness that combined curves with sheer flattened surfaces and starched pointed accents. It is very enjoyable to look at as its aesthetic drama has been achieved seemingly with minimal effort. All is included in the basic design concept of sheerness, harmony and elegant execution. >IMAGE-53-13-8.0” X 6.5” The simple and elegant front end surfaces are combined with the fenders and lower sheetmetal to form an elegant three dimensional shape. All comes together to result in the air openings to cool the engine. FORM LANGUAGE AND HARMONY Once the very simple and basic theme was chosen, Giugiaro did something very special on the Mangusta in executing the sheet-metal surfaces. The typical sections for most car bodies of the time were developed with the flattest part at the beginning. As the line developed, with an ever increasing radius, it became rounder and rounder until it would end. The opposite is done on the Mangusta. The greatest amount of crown is at the center of a symmetrical section, with the two ends being on the edge of flatness. A minimal amount of crown is used at the end of a section as surfaces connect with creases to prevent them from looking hollow. The result is a very different form language that beautifully supports the simple design theme of the car in total. This added a special quality and entertainment factor to the center of the Mangusta’s surfaces and it is most clearly seen on the front hood and fender tops. In the end the car looks rounder than it really is and it is strongly affected by changing light. MID-ENGINE ARCHITECTURE >54-53-11.8” X 6.8” The sharply angled firewall in front of the mid-engine sets up the location of the end of the door and the position of the lock mechanism inside the door. In front of that the rear of the side window track has been located in the door to clear the door lock mechanism. The architecture and the very harmonic design theme is enhanced by front, side and rear graphics that consistently support the major theme selection which visually promises driving excitement. The Mangusta front is very straightforward in its shape and in the center of the grill the enameled sky blue, white and black De Tomaso emblem is an aesthetic accent that is both simple and direct. The grill and headlamps are set back in a shape that is the result of the hood and fender surfaces extending from the vehicle core, leaving openings for the required cooling air flow for radiator and brakes. The body side theme has a very sharp and low horizontal accent line that visually brings the car closer to the ground, actually lower than what would be normally expected. The side window shapes show a passenger compartment volume far forward of the rear wheels and ahead of the engine. Three very thin air intakes behind the side windows also hint at performance and visually extend the side glass graphic. This also takes visual weight out of the area above the engine in side view.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
When we reflect upon the history of Italian coachbuilding and design, it is impossible to ignore the De Tomaso / Giugiaro Mangusta. It was stunning from every angle; in both art and engineering, it challenged and defined every aspect of motor car design in the mid-1960s while solving the problems associated with midengined design with beauty, grace, and authority. By the dictates of its creator, the Mangusta would be a race car for the street, its chassis based on a contemporary competition car. By the hand of one of the greatest automotive designers in Italy, it would be wide, low, sleek, and of perfect line.
Ex-GM Designer Dick Ruzzin knows this well, as did others whose lives were devoted to automotive architecture. The Detroit doyens of design, William L. Mitchell at GM and Gene Bordinat at Ford, realized immediately that the Mangusta was one of the most advanced and beautiful cars in the world. Both ordered a specially tailored Mangusta for their personal use, and Mitchell had his equipped with a Chevy V8.
Ruzzin has owned the ex-Mitchell Mangusta for the last forty-seven years. He spent years in Turin and interviewed many of those who still remembered how the Mangusta came to be created. Writing with passion, experience, and knowledge, Ruzzin has expertly authored the only book specifically about the design of the Mangusta.
—Pete Vack, Editor and Publisher, VeloceToday.com, LLC
Reading about Dick Ruzzin's Mangusta reminds me of two of the most unforgettable characters I ever met. They are, of course, Alejandro de Tomaso and William L. Mitchell.
Once known as Europe's most profligate creator of exotic sports and racing prototypes, Argentinean emigre de Tomaso had a phase of fondness for backbone-framed cars that gave birth to the Mangusta, magnificently styled by the young Giorgetto Giugiaro. The mercurial Alejandro finally made good as a car manufacturer—with a little help from the Italian government.
A car enthusiast from his bald dome to his Bond Street shoes, Bill Mitchell arranged for GM Styling to buy the latest sports cars to help him persuade GM's often hidebound management that more exciting cars might be good for business. His Chevy-engined Mangusta was a perfect example. Ironically its successor in de Tomaso oeuvre was the Pantera, launched by Ford like an arrow at the heart of GM.
Now Dick Ruzzin brings his own enthusiasm for great automobiles to this presentation of an esoteric example from the golden age of Italian sports cars, deeply informed on all aspects of the Mangusta as only a passionate owner can be.
—Karl Ludvigsen
About the Author
The subject of the book is the design of an automotive icon. I am a car designer and have owned one of the subject cars for forty-seven years. I am well-known by people in the specialty car community.