Reply to "De Tomaso ?? for sale in UK"

The last vehicle to emege from DeTomaso was the Bigua, a small front engine 2 seater powered by Ford's 4.6 liter 4 cam mod motor.

Kjell Qvale is a business entrepeneur who imported MGs into the US beginning about 1947 and helped to establish the American appetite for sports cars after world war II. He also imported DeTomaso Mangustas into the US in the late 1960s. He and his son, Bruce Qvale, entered into a "new" business relationship with DeTomaso, took over production of the Bigua, and rebadged the car as the Qvale Mangusta. The relationship between DeTomaso and Qvale turned nasty as production began. The car was produced for a couple of years (2000 to 2002), a few hundred were made the majority were sold in the US, Qvale took a big loss on the project. They later sold the car & manufacturing facilities in Modena to MG Rover (2003?). MG Rover retained the chassis, re-bodied the vehicle and turned it into their "hot" sports car, the SV and SV-R. The SV is very popular with the MG Rover enthusiasts. So the Bigua lives on as a MG Rover, few DeTomaso enthusiasts realize the soul of this British sports car is actually the last DeTomaso.

George