Stile Bertone's latest coachbuilt sports car, and a bold project that signifies a new era for the historic Italian designer, now revealed as the Corvette ZR1 based Mantide, will make its debut at the Shanghai Auto Show today. Stile Bertone has steadily revealed information about the one-off project in the run up to the Chinese motor show, dripping details through a six episode video posted on a dedicated website dubbed Inside Project M, as well as through a YouTube and Twitter presence.

Little incisive information though has been given away about the project project prior to its world première in China today which Bertone sees as significant, announcing a new chapter in its history in a car market of the future. The design team has been led by Jason Castriota who moved to Stile Bertone late last year having quit his position at Pininfarina in the autumn. At Pininfarina he was responsible for several one-off projects including the slippery Maserati MC12-based "Birdcage 75th", last summer's Rolls-Royce "Hyperion" and the Ferrari Enzo-based "P4/5 by Pininfarina". Now he has turned his hand to a first unique project for Stile Bertone which is undergoing a revival since its gained space from the troubled Bertone company which has been dragged down by the failure of its contract manufacturing division to gain any new work. Stile Bertone is now under the leadership of former Aprilia CEO Teresio Gaudio with Marie-Jeanne in the Vice-President's seat, and their first key hiring was Castriota, who also put his name to production sports cars such as the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and Maserati GranTurismo during his tenure at Pininfarina.

Dubbed Mantide, the Italian word for Praying Mantis, the new so far one-off car has been created for a customer and is based around the underpinnings of the latest Corvette model, the ZR1. The Corvette has proved to be popular with tuners and coachbuilders and Stile Bertone has been fast out of the blocks with the brand-new ZR1. However although at present a unique car it has been designed for road use and not as a showcar while Stile Bertone has left the option open so that customers could order copies of the car directly from the Italian design studio.

Stile Bertone has left the mechanicals of the American sports car relatively untouched. Under the bonnet the ZR1 has an all-new 6.2-litre supercharged LS9 motor that produces 620 bhp at 6500 rpm and 595 lb/ft of torque at 4000 rpm. That all adds up to an impressive 100 horsepower per litre. The engine is mated up to a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox and a new design of 260 mm twin-disc clutch for the Corvette to cope with the increase in power. With the extensive use of carbon-fibre for the new bodywork, the Mantide should turn in even more impressive performance that the Corvette ZR1. "It all boils down to the power-to-weight ratio and the ZR1's is exceptional," Chevrolet's Ed Peper commented recently. "Better than the Porsche 911 GT2, the Ferrari 599 and even the Lamborghini [Murciélago] LP640."

The design team at Stile Bertone has created a very distinct style for the Mantide that is both organic in keeping to the broader Corvette styling principles that can still be seen, such as the rear glasshouse, but at the same time Castriota's team has brought into play a new sharper, angular appearance. At the front the photos reveal a jutting honeycomb section nose, a new style of headlights and angular wheelarches as well as a very unique front air exit behind the wheels. Further down the side two angled sections interlock with each other and feed into the rear section of the car.