''The new Corvette takes that foundation and reaches beyond with dramatic increases in performance and refinement,'' Hill said, ''wrapped in a passionate new design.''

Thanks to an all-new chassis, strong and lightweight body structure and the new 400-horsepower LS2 engine, Hill said, ''the 2005 Corvette again raises the bar for performance, with outstanding handling and surprising ride quality.''

Equipped with the new Z51 Performance Package, the 2005 Corvette (in both coupe and convertible body styles) nearly matches the track performance of today's widely respected Corvette Z06 model.

''The sixth-generation represents a comprehensive upgrade to the Corvette,'' said Hill. ''Our goal is to create a Corvette that does more things well than any performance car. We've thoroughly improved performance and developed new features and capabilities in many areas, while at the same time systematically searching out and destroying every imperfection we could find.''

The Corvette coupe will go into production this summer with the convertible to follow a couple of months after. Both models should be on sale in Canada by the end of the year.