Further light on Project M has been shed this week during an interview with Stile Bertone Design Director Jason Castriota (above) and the launch of a new video.

More details of Stile Bertone's forthcoming 'Project M' have emerged along with another video episode of the drip-feed presentation of this one-off coachbuilt sports car that is set to be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show next month.

Further light on the bespoke project has been shed by the presentation of the third episode of the background series video on a internet microsite dedicated to Project M while during an interview Stile Bertone Design Director Jason Castriota has given to the carbonfibregrear.com the aims of the project have been outlined.

The latter kicked off by asking him why the Shanghai Auto Show has been chosen as the venue to launch Project M. "Stile Bertone has an opportunity to be one of the most important leaders in the next generation of automotive design–the generation for cities like Shanghai, Bogota, Dubai, and Moscow," said Castriota. "Certainly the traditional shows held in Geneva, Detroit, Paris and Frankfurt remain important centres of the industry, but I think that launching in Shanghai is a statement about what’s next. It’s also important to note that the car will make a number of appearances very quickly."

While the engine and mechanicals of the donor car that is being used remain unchanged, the bodywork and many other components will be realised out of carbon fibre. Key partners in the project include Danisi, an engineering partner to many automotive industry companies including Ferrari and Toyota, while according to Castriota they have "relied heavily" on the carbon fibre expertise of Belco Avia which is a world leader in this field with experience in everything from Formula 1 to production cars. Another important partner in Project M is Dymag Racing Ltd, which, according to Castriota, "is supplying the custom designed wheels which feature a carbon fibre rim, and a hub made up of a hybrid of magnesium and aluminium."

Asked about what changes have been made to the original car, Castriota told carbonfibregear.com that "the car is based on an existing chassis and its original mechanicals have remained untouched since it is already a stellar performance car. While the wheels and body work are completely new, we will be utilising LED technology from Osram, the steering wheel will be supplied by Black Line, and the racing harnesses are being crafted by Sparco."

To realise Project M the design team at Stile Bertone has focused on extensive carbon fibre use and a simple racing style cockpit. In achieving these key aims Castriota is able to draw on the breadth of experience of his work while he was the Head of Special Projects at Pininfarina (which he left last autumn); these projects include the Ferrari Enzo-based P4/5, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti-based 612 Kappa, and the Maserati MC12-based Birdcage 75th. For Project M Castriota says that "the entire exterior body work, the interior panels, the wheels and the brakes are all carbon fibre so there is no shortage of its use. We went with carbon fibre for the simple fact that it remains the best material if you need low weight and high strength. The carbon fibre interior emphasizes this, as it has a spartan, race car like feel."

Until the project has been completed Castriota is unsure of the exact weight savings that will be realised by the extensive use of carbon fibre across this car. "The donor car is already made up of some light and exotic materials," he told the website, adding "so we will never see a reduction of 200 kilos but I can say conservative estimates will be in the realm of 70 kilos lighter."