Chevrolet Camaro Convertible (2011) first pictures

Chevrolet has shown its new Camaro Convertible ahead of the Los Angeles auto show tomorrow. No great shakes: it takes the stylish coupe and chops the top.

There's a 308bhp V6 or the 420bhp V8, and prices kick off around $30,000. If only UK prices transferred over like that; it would cost £19,000, but we somehow don't think that'll happen when official UK imports of the Camaro kick off in 2011.

The soft-top roof on the Camaro Convertible has an acoustic headliner to hush the whistles and whooshes of a cabrio and GM quotes a better torsional stiffness than a 3-series CC.

That's some claim, made possible by extra bracing under the bonnet, a stronger transmission tunnel and unerbody reinforcements.

'To compensate for the reduced structure of an open car, engineers often will make the suspension softer, making the convertible a boulevard cruiser,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. 'Instead, we took the more difficult, but better path of bolstering structure rather than softening the suspension. We didn’t change a strut, bushing or spring rate from the Camaro coupe.'

UK imports later in 2011 will bring a Camaro cabrio with the 6.2-litre V8, with a choice of six-speed manual or auto transmission.

The Camaro is now the best-selling coupe in the segment in America.

By Tim Pollard