Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (2013) first official pictures

You wait ages for a new Corvette, and then six weeks after the new Stingray bows in at the 2013 Detroit atuo show, its soft-top sister is revealed at the Geneva motor show. The latest C7-generation Corvette drop-top uses the same mechanical package (big V8 up front, power sent to the rear wheels) as its fixed-head sister but adds an electrically-folding soft-top roof that you can lower remotely via pushing a button on the key fob. You can also drop the roof while on the move, at speed of up to 31mph.

The Corvette's LT1 6.2-litre V8 develops 450bhp and 450lb ft and powers the car to 62mph in under four seconds, while the top speed is estimated to be around 180mph. You can choose either a six-speed automatic or seven-speed manual gearbox, with auto-rev matching for smooth downshifting. Handy if you're still learning your heel 'n' toe technique...

Thanks to an all-new, more rigid aluminum frame structure, the new Corvette convertible is is 57% stiffer and 45kg lighter than the steel-framed outgoing C6 Corvette. The convertible keeps the coupe's carbonfibre bonnet and its five-position Drive Mode Selector, and if you want your 'Vette convertible with a little more bite there's an optional Z51 Performance Package with an electronic limited-slip differential, a dry sump system for the engine, extra cooling for the brakes, diff and gearbox, and aero tweaks to improve high-speed stability.

Soft-top C7 Corvettes will roll off Kentucky's Bowling Green production line from summer 2013. As with the C7 Corvette coupe, official UK sales are unconfirmed, but if import demand is strong enough there is the possbility of right-hand drive cars coming to Britain later in the car's life. Prices on this side of the Atlantic are likely to top £60,000, putting the Corvette Convertible in the same ballpark as a Jaguar F-type V6S or Mercedes SLK55 AMG.

By Ollie Kew