Five Collectable Italian Cars That Aren’t Ferraris

Ferrari has built some of Italy’s most impressive machines. But a prancing horse badge isn’t required for an Italian car to be simply incredible. Most of the cars that follow aren’t inexpensive, but compared to Ferraris they are absolute steals.

DeTomaso Mangusta: Mercedes-Benz doesn’t have a lock on the gullwing market. No, DeTomaso used a gullwing configuration for their Mangusta. But not for the doors, rather the rear of the car has two dorsally mounted flip-up hatches that cover the engine, spare tire, and luggage compartments. Rumor has it that Alejandro De Tomaso named the car Mangusta (mongoose, in Italian; a cobra’s natural enemy) because it was to become the Cobra’s replacement until Carroll Shelby became involved with Ford’s GT40 program. It was in good fun though, because it’s further rumored that Shelby supplied the Euro-market Mangustas with high-performance 289 cubic inch V-8s.

Fiat X1/9: With a layout like the Lamborghini Miura (transverse mid-engine and rear-wheel drive) and designed by the same man (Marcello Gandini), the Fiat X1/9 doesn’t have the Lamborghini’s tire-melting power, but the Fiat’s weighs around 2,000 lbs and its handling is sublime. Best of all, most X1/9s can be had for less than 1 percent the cost of a Miura.