Classic Classified: 1970 DeTomaso Mangusta
From: Hemmings Motor News
Date: December 1983
Price then: $29,500 ($70,000 adjusted for inflation – about the cost of a new BMW M4 today)
Price now: $204,000 – $295,000
Approximate dollar difference: $225,000 (assuming No. 1 condition)
Approximate annual rate of return: 4.6%
Mangusta: 1970, future Hall of Fame, Pete Rose ordered this car new, documented, body off. $10,000 restoration almost completed. New motor, etc. $29,500.
As any baseball fan knows, the seller was a bit premature in referring to Pete Rose as a future Hall of Famer considering that he was placed on the ineligible list in 1989 for placing bets on games. That small detail aside, this still makes for a neat story. Although DeTomaso doesn’t catch the public attention like other Italian marques such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, the rate of return still surpasses the inflation rate. To see this car survace at a public sale today, you could “bet” that would be a big treat for any baseball fan with the money to bring it home.
