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Corvette ZR1 MANTIDE, Bertone's Version of the ZR1

Stile Bertone's 50 year experience with developing one-off prototypes based on Chevrolet's vehicles has spawned yet another breath taking vehicle, called the MANTIDE. This time, the car of choice as MANTIDE's platform is the 2009 Corvette ZR1.

Using the experience gained with the Le Mans winner Corvette C5R, the ZR1 has become the fastest production car on the Nurburgring track, with a lap time of 7:26:4 seconds. Bulked up by Bertone, the ZR1 now uses a mix of lines drawn from both the aerospace industry and Formula 1.

The MANTIDE, built together with Danisi Engineering boasts a low-slung nose, jet fighter style teardrop canopy and butterfly opening doors, as well as the numerous air inlets and exhausts for maximum air efficiency. The most striking feature of the one-off though remains the "teardrop-like fuselage", with big headlights climbing up and to the side on the front.

From the performance standpoint, the MANTIDE is aimed to surpass even its source of inspiration. The use of of carbon fiber for all body panels, interior trim, seats and wheels, has helped the vehicle's weight decrease by 100 kilos. The flat floor and diffuser mounted on the MANTIDE helped reduce drag by 25 percent and increased down-force by 30 percent.

Thanks to this, the MANTIDE sprints from naught to sixty in 3.2 seconds and tops at 351 km/hour (217mph). To help the driver feel safe at those high-speeds,, Bertone has increased the chassis' rigidity by fitting a FIA regulation triangulated roll cage, light-weight carbon fibre racing seats and 4 point racing harness for track use.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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