Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

The reveal of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is so close that the automaker does little to disguise pre-production prototypes anymore. And, as Motor Trend has discovered, this goes for both the exterior and interior. One of its spy photographers managed to snag an image of the interior which, for the most part, looks identical to what already exists for the Stingray and all the way up to the Z06. But what was noticed on this particular prototype was an automatic transmission.

But what, isn't the new ZR1 supposed to be the purist's Corvette, the very last great front-engined Corvette? Yes, and MT assumes Chevrolet will offer the ZR1 with its also new 10-speed automatic, the very same one jointly developed with Ford. It's also found in the Camaro ZL1 and the Ford F-150 Raptor. What's still unknown is whether the ZR1 will come standard with a manual. We think it will. After all, there are still plenty of three-pedal enthusiasts out there and the ZR1 is an enthusiast's car. The Camaro ZL1 LE, if you recall, is manual-only, so we're pretty hopeful on this one. All other C7 Corvettes, including the formidable Z06, are offered with an eight-speed automatic.

Chevrolet hasn't announced an official ZR1 reveal date just yet, but it'll definitely be happening in the coming months, with Detroit in January will be the absolute latest. Until then, we'll very likely begin to see some teaser images quite soon, but based on the spy shots and videos we've already seen, we all have a very good idea what the final product will look like, big rear wing and all.