C8 Corvette interior photo leaked hours before debut

Chevrolet’s media team has been running a tight ship when it comes to images of the 2020 Corvette Stingray. The first press photo to leak, hours before the July 18 reveal in Orange County, California, is a Chevrolet media photo of the C8’s interior.

What can we make of the pic? The cockpit is very driver-focused, with a large display angled toward the driver that also holds the start/stop button just to the right of the steering wheel. A row of switches partially divides the cabin and mimics the transition that the dash makes at each door panel, creating a clear separation between driver and passenger areas. The row of buttons, shown in previous spy photographs, includes controls for the HVAC and seat heaters.

A wide instrument panel appears to be entirely digital, and in this photo it also shows an accelerometer. The steering wheel photo that Chevrolet had previously released uses black stitching and a black center stripe, while this one uses bright red. Is this just a Stingray interior option or could we be looking at the Grand Sport? We can’t make out any distinguishing features that would point to one trim level over another. We expect that only the Stingray will debut initially, and the emblem we pick up on the door panel is for the Bose audio system, so no luck there.

Barely visible is a trapezoidal center console compartment, and it looks like the latch is on the driver side. A separate compartment, presumably concealing a pair of cupholders, is at the driver’s forearm, just aft of what appears to be a recess for stowing the Corvette’s key fob. Whatever it is, it’s got stitching to match the rest of the interior and an embossed crossed flag emblem, but it doesn’t match the leaked images of the C8’s supposed key fob. Directly to the left is the shifter for the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and just ahead of that is the rocker switch for the electronic parking brake.

We’re still split on the row of switches. It does reduce clutter and give tactile feedback for important tasks that a driver would otherwise have to access through the digital display, so that is a bonus. On the other hand, we anticipate a bit of a learning curve before muscle memory allows for seamless use.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the forum.