The ZF in the Mangusta and the Pantera are mounted opposite. If the Mangusta ZF is up, then the Pantera version is upside down.
The above attached engineering report describes the Pantera ZF as being mounted upside down and requiring internal oiling modifications to compensate for that.
One of the issues with the Mangusta was that the bellhouse was so close to the ground that even in the US any manhole cover was a road hazard and there were a number of cases where a good portion of the bell had been torn away by contact with "road obstructions".
That was corrected in the Pantera but it still has some clearance issues particularly in the front under the radiator support.
The US bound Panteras had a 1" spacer installed in the shock/spring assembly that raised the car approximately 1". It was thought that it was to comply with the minimum headlight height requirements in the US, but really if you remove the 1" spacers (as I have) the lower radiator support height issue becomes apparent.
The Pantera suspension is very similar to a coil spring Cobra chassis with "coil overs", and unequal a-arms front and back.
To illustrate the issue, IF I make a fist and hold it vertically, I cannot slip it under the support. If I hold it flat, it will clear. That's low and you need to learn to look down the road surfaces for obvious protrusions and what's worse, some of the "old" gas stations have an entrance ramp that is too steep for the car.
So you say, so you scrape up the paint a little? Wrong Bunkie. You tear the sheetmetal off, bend the radiator support and crack the radiator. 'nough said?
I'm not surprised that Ford wanted out but there was a little venom expressed on their part. At the end of US Pantera production, Ford bought Vignale. They actually were the ones who built the Panteras.
So what you say? They immediately shut them down and never reopened it. That's nasty but I suspect payback for something? Maybe to the labor union? At the time Mafia interference stories in businesses were common in Italy AND Italy had the largest Communist Party in the "West", so you go and speculate?
It may not have been Detomaso that they had enough of, maybe just Italy?
I just skimmed through the article but it is my understanding that Ford delivered the engines for both the Mangusta and the Pantera with the explicit requirement that Detomaso wasn't even allowed to take the valve covers off without loosing warranty coverage of the engine from Ford.
Quite a set of handcuffs considering there is an easy 150 horsepower to be gained with that engine at very little risk.
So to me it appears that the author of that article took considerable liberties and somewhat of a cheap shot in accusing Detomaso of being cheap by installing the engines as received from Ford.
No one ever accused automotive journalists necessarily of being accurate?
I'm not an expert on the Mangusta but it has been pretty much documented that there was only one built with the 289. The first one. All others were 4speed 302 J codes which means they had the provisions for air injectors in the heads exhaust ports.
Automatic transmissioned J codes did not have air injector ports. They would have had the wrong flywheel and Ford forbid any changes so those couldn't have been used instead. The Ford cast iron exhaust manifolds were not used. Detomaso had special tube headers made.
I do not believe that the Mangustas had air pumps but I may be wrong on that?
The Pantera benefited from a change in the Federal law that regulated vehicle emissions at the time.
The change simply said that imported vehicles with less then 5,000 annual units produced were exempt from requiring the air pump.
I didn't look at the date of that exemption but it is possible that the Mangusta was too early to benefit?
It was interesting to me to see the Mangusta as listed as a Ford product in the above engineering report.
It was always thought that Ford never accepted it as a Ford product and it was strictly a Detomaso? Just the engine was warranted by Ford with their caveats.
It is said that the exemption to the US Emissions law came about by Mrs.Detomaso's lobbying. She is an American from New Jersey.