Reply to "Mangusta Hi po Engine"

But what happens to the cat??

Ron,
I agree with you about US production figures and records especially on Boss and CJ cars. (My old R-code Cougar finally surfaced on ebay a couple of weeks back..sad condition...1 of about 10 if I recall....sold it to keep the Goose!) ....but I know of at least two 69 Cougars built on the San Jose line that didn't quite match the paperwork...amazing what a case of beer or so could buy back in the 60's on the assembly line!!! "...I'll take one of those track loc's, that funny looking big block over there...be sure to get the oil cooler....oh and put in the red interior...."


As to documenting hipo's in early Gooses, all I can say is that we have plenty of proof that the hipo 289's appear in the earliest of cars built, and the factory parts book confirms a unique bellhousing for them, and further notes document the later 302 bellhousing. There are plenty of other references to hipo parts in the parts books, like the dual point distributor which no 302 probably ever got. Using the numbers in the DeTomaso parts book and going backwards in the Ford Parts book I was able to confirm these bits as being hipo original.

The original homologation document that I have also shows pictures of a hipo 289. But then it shows a Weber intake too.....which never made it to production....!

How good are the notes in the "note book"? We may never know...... Does it make a lot of difference to any car's value? Not from what I have seen in sales prices...... some real "polished turds" have brought big cash, and the beautiful original green Roots car that sold brought top dollar for a top condition car. But the difference in the cars was crazy if you talk to people that had seen these cars in person and/or knew their history... All in the buyer....how badly he wants to part with his cash......

Since all of our cars are hand built, we can expect to see slight differences just about anywhere. My car has the alternator in a different mounting spot than any other that I have seen, yet my bellhousing shows no indication of having anything mounted in the "normal" spot...nor does my wiring show any indication of modification....down to the original Italian crimp connectors on the ends! After that, my car suffers from many slight modifications that previous owners made. I will say that I have added some more....like the 331 that sits in it....but since the Boss 302 that came in the car was not stock....and the original engine was long gone...I didn't feel so badly doing it....and it is so much fun to drive now! I did get many of the hard to find parts with the car, including finding the 4th owner who still had an original air cleaner hanging on his garage wall...! (I'm owner #6 or 7.)

I think if you purchase a Goose, and it has a hipo 289 in it with all 67 or 68 dates on the parts, it is probably original.....hard to prove otherwise. If you got a 302, and it was stamped with something resembling the pictures that Denis posted of the "302/xxx" on the intake pad, and all of the cast iron dates matched up, and preceeded the date codes on the brake calipers and the windows by some good amount of time, I would think you'd be in good shape saying that it was original also!

But the paperwork....it remains in flux. Hell, we just found out recently that there was a 402cnd car built!!! No paperwork to back it up(yet)...but pictures of the car and a stamped serial number pretty much prove it to be.....

Maybe someday, Santiago will cut the notebook loose and we can all get "our pages" but I doubt that you'll see much variance other than perhaps "special A/C dash" or different calipers front/rear.....perhaps some clue to aluminum or magnesium rims....! Paint codes.....or names.

That would be cool!!!

I think the Bosses have a reputation and a lot of guys owned them or rode in their buddy's car and always wanted one....and that drives their price up....plus the rareness and collectible aspect too....so you are wise to do these resto's properly.

But if I wanted to build a Boss 302 race car or custom....I'd buy a 6cyl sports roof and go at it......but it will never be "original" because of the paperwork! However, you just can't go out and snag a Mangusta just anywhere!!!!! Special no matter how you cut it.....paperwork or not!

That reminds me....I need to go drive my car soon!!!
Ciao!
Steve