End of motor shows? ARE LOOKING UP

be the first made in right-hand drive. I’m guessing Chevrolet has seen the result of Ford building the Mustang in right-hand drive (over 4,000 have been sold here) and realised there’s money to be made.

The car won’t be coming to the UK until early next year, but I’m going to whet your appetite.

First of all there’s the engine. Last June we tested the previous version of the Corvette fitted with the 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8 that’s directly related to the famous small-block Chevrolet V8 first built in the 1950s.

In the new Corvette it produces 495bhp and is coupled to an eightspeed double-clutch gearbox and electronic limited-slip differential.

The chassis is made mainly of aluminium, and as with all Corvettes the panels are glassfibre.

It weighs in at 1,500kg. This, together with an effective gearbox, allows it to accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.9sec.

While we’re about it, the other number worth noting is a top speed of 194mph – it’s a pretty potent supercar in other words.

Although we don’t have an exact price for it yet, I’d guess it will set you back around £80,000.

That’s a lot of money, but when you compare it with other mid-engined supercars it’s a bargain – about half the price of a McLaren 570GT and 50 grand cheaper than Audi’s R8.

But there’s another thing: the Corvette’s engine remains very simple and reliable. Even if it did blow up it wouldn’t cost a fortune to replace, unlike the motor in a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

That Chevy V8 sounds wonderful, even at idle, and ticks over with a characterful shake. At full throttle the noise is fantastic.

We drove the new Corvette in the US last week, both on the road in

Nevada and

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I SHOULD have been at the Geneva motor show this week but it’s been cancelled because of the coronavirus.

It’s a shame as I love nosing around the new cars and quizzing their makers.

Here’s a prediction: I don’t think the Geneva show will ever come back.

Carmakers can get just as much coverage just by doing “virtual launches”. We are at the beginning of the end of the traditional motor show. on a track. On the former it was comfortable and relaxing; on the latter it was thrilling and surefooted.

So where do you go if you want one? There’s only one dealer in the UK and that’s Ian Allan Motors in Virginia Water, Surrey, who have already taken a number of deposits.

The new Corvette puts high-performance motoring into the hands of a new audience and I can’t wait to drive the right-hand drive version here

next year.