VIDEO: Bertone Mantide Presentation at Shanghai Auto Show

We've pretty much summed up our feelings about John Castriota's Corvette ZR1-based Bertone Mantide in our previous post here, so we're not going to get into the design discussion again. Just hit the jump to watch to watch the coupe's presentation from the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this month, and don't forget to lower the volume of your speakers because you're probably going to get as annoyed as we did the music background.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Bertone Mantide Live from Shanghai Auto Show

Nope, as much as some of our readers may disagree with us, these live photos of the Corvette ZR1-based Bertone Mantide still don't do the trick. We continue to believe that the Mantide's appearance and especially the car's front-end styling, looks like it was the work of some haphazard Chinese automaker and not from a famed design house like Bertone. At some point the vehicle's cat-lipped buttocks could grow on us, but don't expect that to happen any time soon. Read more about the Mantide here.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Bertone Mantide based on Corvette - Really, it's not a Chinese Concept...

Don't you just love the media's double standards? If its Chinese, it's junk, if its Western European or American it's a masterpiece. Excuse me, but the first thing that came to mind upon seeing Jason Castriota's Corvette ZR1-based Bertone Mantide Concept was 'hey, this thing looks like it came straight out of the design studio of some random and gawkily named Chinese automaker'. Sure it captures your attention as any concept sportscar would do, but this ain't no Italian beauty... Those that disagree with us may -and should- leave their thoughts in the comment section below.

Even though we may not find its design alluring -at least in the classic Italian sense, compared to the Corvette ZR1 donor car, drag has been reduced by 25% to Cd 0.298 while there's also a 30% improvement in down force.

Bertone claims that the Mantide also promises greater performance than the ZR1, due to significant weight savings, achieved through the extensive use of carbon fibre for all body panels, interior trim, seats and even the wheels. The result is that the overall vehicle weight has been reduced by 100 kilos or 220 pounds over the ZR1.

Equipped with the Corvette ZR1's 640Hp supercharged V8, the Mantide sprints from 0 to 62mph (100km/h) in 3.2 seconds and has a top speed of 351km/h (217mph).

The Mantide made its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com