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.
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