inside project m mantide 004
Giving brilliant people free rein to build their dreams has led to some of the best designs in automotive history, no small portion of which were penned by people working for the legendary design houses like Stile Bertone and Pininfarina. Well, one designer, Jason Castriota just happened to work at both of these and soon his brilliant creations will be wearing a Saab badge.
With wild creations like the James Glickenhaus Ferrari P4/5 and the Corvette ZR1-based Mantide (pictured) under his belt, Castriota now moves into the head position at Saab.
His first task will be to design the next-generation Saab 9-3, which will be moving more upmarket in order to compete on a level playing field with the likes of the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4.
“It's absolutely vital we get this car right,” Castriota told Bloomberg. “This is Saab returning to its roots, not having to worry about being part of a much larger machine that they were before in the GM organization.”
Other models in the pipeline include a new 9-2 compact car, which previous reports have suggested could be based on BMW’s front-wheel drive MINI platform. Additionally, Castriota has also reportedly been hired by Shelby Supercars to help inject some excitement into the brand’s future models.
