By Anthony Alaniz, Motor1.com
A lot can change in 67 years.
Last month, Chevy unveiled the 2020 Corvette Stingray
after years of denials, prototypes, and countless trademark filings
that laid bare Chevy's mid-engine aspirations for the sports car. With
the new chassis layout came an all-new interior unlike anything ever
seen in a Corvette before. It's driver-focused with a clear division
between driver and passenger. But that hasn't always been the case. The
Corvette's interior has changed a lot over its 67-year history, as has
its exterior.
The folks at Budget Direct
came up with a series of sketches to show how the Corvette interior has
evolved since the sports car arrived in 1953, highlighting each
Corvette generation from the C1 to the C8. The first three Corvette
generations had a very symmetrical look to the interior with the
instrument panel centered nicely. It wasn't until the C4 arrived in 1984
when Chevy toyed with a driver-focused interior, discreetly dividing
the passenger and driver seats.
Chevy toned down the division in the C5 and C6 before dividing the interior again in the C7. The driver-focused interior is taken to the extreme in the C8
with an even more significant divide between the seats and the HVAC
controls placed in a unique position. For as much as the Corvette's
interior has changed, it's not all that different. Yes, it's far more
complicated than ever before with more information available to the
driver, but there's still a steering wheel, radio, speedometer and tach,
and HVAC controls.
Each sketch is a window in a different era of
not only the Corvette but the automobile as well. Pop culture is also
represented, too, with various albums and music mediums shown in the
sketches, corresponding to the era. The Corvette is an icon, and for
many of its owners, the interior is a second home.
C1 Corvette: 1953-1962
C2 Corvette: 1963-1967
C3 Corvette: 1968-1982
C4 Corvette: 1984-1996
C5 Corvette: 1997-2004
C6 Corvette: 2004-2013
C7 Corvette: 2014-2019
C8 Corvette: 2020-
