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Back in January, at the聽North American International Auto Show听颈苍听Detroit, General Motors introduced the long-awaited seventh-generation Corvette 鈥� a sleek, swoopy, extremely high-powered coupe that bears the storied Stingray name. For months, car bloggers have speculated as to how much the new Vette would cost. $100,000? $70,000? Well, today, we have an answer, courtesy of GM: $51,995 for a base-level hardtop.聽

Obviously, that's not exactly cheap. But by the standards of performance automobiles 鈥� the 2014 Corvette Stingray gets a聽6.2L LT1 V-8 engine with 鈥� it sure ain't bad.聽

"The Corvette Stingray delivers a combination of performance, design and technology that very few manufacturers can match, and none can even come close for $52,000,"聽Chris Perry, the vice president of marketing for Chevrolet, says today in a statement.聽

Some figures here to note: The base-level Stingray convertible will start at聽$56,995, five grand more than the base-level Stingray hardtop. Both of those price points include a $995, but not the聽title, tax and license fees, which will drive the cost up a bit more. Still, Mr. Perry's point stands: To get this kind of combined juice and styling, you'd typically have to spend tens of thousands of dollars more.聽

Consider, for instance, , another (relatively!) affordable supercar that also packs a whole lot of horsepower, and some killer lines to boot. Nissan's 2014 powerhouse two-door starts at $99,590, almost twice the cost of the base-level Stingray.聽

Of course, as Jeff Bennett over at The Wall Street Journal, most people will end up paying even more than that, because hardly anyone, in Mr. Bennett's formulation, "just goes for the basic any more. Those eager to match the Stingray shown off at the North American International Auto Show will need to pony up $73,360. For that price customers get a variety of features including competition sports seats, carbon fiber roof and red-painted brake calipers," he writes.聽

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