New Corvette convertible appears online, faithful debate badges

Every generation of Chevrolet Corvette since 1953 has offered a convertible version, and the new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will not veer from history. What's more surprising is that the first supposed images of the droptop Vette appeared online about 72 hours after the car was revealed. Now the debate rages: Is it the real life, or is it just fantasy?

Published by The Auto Insider, the two images depict a Corvette convertible with a few significant differences from the ones shown earlier this week, attributed to this being a base model lacking touches like a rear spolier standard with the Z51 handling upgrades. In place of the new hatch, there's a trunk that copies the sculpted lines of the new hood design, preserving the tail lights that have caused so much pushback among Corvette aficionados.

With the power to create realistic-looking car images available to anyone with a modern laptop, the veracity of these images quickly came under fire. While the original poster says the shots were not a computer-generated rendering, the "this looks shopped" crowd points out that this Vette has different rear badges, no Stingray side-sill icon and no rear brake vents, as the Z51 models do. In its favor, the shot does have the proper plates of GM's Design Center.

For its part, GM says the shots are "not offical images released by Chevrolet PR," which shows that someone has been paying attention at two-step dancing classes. And GM has already released one glimpse of the convertible Vette -- using one briefly for interior shots in the official unveiling video. It's been nine years since Chevrolet last redesigned the Corvette; I suspect it will only be a matter of months before we can compare these images to the real deal.