Everything about the De Tomaso Mangusta - its name, form and history - is interesting! The De Tomaso car-manufacturing company in Italy was started by Argentinean race-driver Alejandro de Tomaso. This 2-door coupe was manufactured with the idea of replacing the famous 'Cobra' line of cars from Shelby and thus was named, 'Mangusta' which means 'mongoose' in Italian. In the period from 1967 to 1971, only 401 Mangustas were manufactured and about 250 are known to exist in the world even today, thanks to the efforts of the collectors. When it made its first appearance at the Turin Show as the Ghia Mangusta, it was sold for $11,500. However, the price today ranges anywhere between $130,000 to $140,000 to own one of these beauties.