Official Chevrolet Corvette interior sketch includes Z06 badge

This is another one of those “We don’t know what this is so we’re leaving this here,” posts. We have the gang at Roadshow to thank for this sketch of a C8 Chevrolet Corvette interior. They got hold of the image when it came “Buried in a slew of sketches Chevrolet provided to Roadshow of the eighth-generation Corvette’s design process,” and they’re not sure where to peg it, either. What inquiring minds want to know is whether this sketch is an accurate depiction of the coming C8 Corvette Z06. The question arises because the titillating alphanumeric “Z06” appears inset at the bottom of the rectangular steering wheel. Among the 33 images Chevrolet provided for the slideshow, Roadshow wrote that this was the only sketch to bear that mark.

There are plenty of other differences between this interior and a standard Stingray, even a Stingray in 3LT trim with the optional carbon fiber package. In fact, starting with the glossy stuff, this image nearly inverts the carbon fiber placement of the trim package. RPO code FA5 adds a CF surround for the gauge cluster, more carbon under the infotainment handrest, and another splash around the door window and mirror switches. There’s none of that here. Instead, whole planks of CF line the driver’s armrest area, the door card almost everywhere but the switch cluster, the top and bottom of the steering wheel, and even the shift paddles.   

The sides of the steering wheel are lined in another material, our guess would be Alcantara. The spokes feature a different control layout with red-trimmed buttons. The steering wheel center adopts a different design than the Stingray, a button underneath the airbag reading “Spec Mode.” Behind the wheel, the digital gauge cluster doesn’t look like any screen we saw on the C8 infotainment tour. There’s an image of Italy’s Mugello Circuit in the lower right of the dash, and in the lower center, the letters “ARM.” And surrounding the cluster, the IP takes on a different shape at the top, with a metallic-like, channeled insert where there’s a flat stretch of stitched leather on the Stingray. Other minor changes include the three buttons to the left of the steering wheel, and the alternative placement of the knob on the infotainment screen compared to the production car.

Tristan Murphy, the drawer, is listed as interior design manager at GM on his LinkedIn profile. He’s responsible for three interior images in the slideshow, and the only one of them that shows a complete instrument panel includes the same gauge cluster, the Spec Mode button moved to the base of the center spoke.

This image might mean nothing for the Z06; it could be a road not taken, and as fanciful as the other 32 images in the Roadshow gallery. All we know is that the image is an official Chevrolet product. We’ve got a couple of years to wait for the Z06, due in 2021 as a 2022 model and reportedly bringing with it a 5.5-liter flat-plane V8. Until then, take a tour of the slideshow for an idea of the many directions the C8 Corvette could have taken, such as the split-window coupe version that seems fated to come to life in a “Transformers” reboot.