With recent reports that GM engineers have set up shop in in the town of Red River, New Mexico to test the 2014 C7 Corvette, it was only a matter of time before the shaky and blurry images of the prototypes taken by average citizens were replaced with high-resolution shots from professional spy photographers. AutomobileMag.com published a new round of photos and this time we get a peek inside the new Corvettes and a preview of its upgraded interior.

One photo in particular shows the headrest of the new seats which bare a striking resemblance to racing seats. One of the common features of racing seats are openings above the shoulders where a racing harness would go ? if the owner was inclined to add them. We can’t see the lower area of the new seats so no idea how bolstered up the sides are.

Another really great shot of the interior shows what may be the new steering wheel. You can see the ?hamster bumps? at the 10 and 2 position, and the areas on each side of the wheel looks to have upgraded controls that are laid out vertically and surrounded by silver trim. One thing is for certain ? this isn’t the same steering wheel that you’ll find on the 2014 Impala.

Another point of that steering wheel photo shows a huge A-pillar. You can see that the door panel looks to get wider as it joins with the A-pillar and then transitions into the dash. Following the Corvette’s history of the dual-cockpit design, it really looks like the designers are trying to ?wrap? the interior around the driver. Chevy has the dash covered up pretty tight so everything else we?d like to mention would be conjecture at this point.

However, that huge A-pillar could be a sign that all the base Corvettes will have an aluminum frame. If the frame is aluminium, that pillar could be larger due to the structural reinforcement needed to hold down the body-flex when the roof panel is removed as well as in the convertible version that will be coming at a later date.

One of the AutomobileMag.com spy shots shows a C7 prototype next to a Camaro ZL1 and the Corvette looks quite a bit smaller in comparison. Like the hood vents in the ZL1, a couple of the shots that look down on the front of cars appear to show similar styled hood vents in the prototypes.

And finally some parting shots. We’ve seen three different types of wheels on these numbered prototypes so far. The chrome 5-star wheels looks vaguely similar to the wheels on the Corvette Stingray concept. A couple of the photos show round tail lights through the covers but AutomobileMag.com tells us that these aren’t the final version. Expect the squared-off tail lights similar to the Camaro they said. Some of the roofs seem to have different finishes on them. The #31 prototype makes us wonder if carbon fiber roofs have made their way from the C6′s ZR1 down to the base Corvettes in C7. After all, weight savings is one of the design priorities of the new Corvette.

What we still don’t have is really any confirmation of what’s under the hood. AutomobileMag.com says expect the 5.5L Gen V V8 with 440hp. We still believe that to be incorrect as we say it will be a 6.2L with 440-480 base horsepower and it will be coupled to the buyer’s choice of a 7-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission.

For more on these Corvette spy photos from New Mexico’s testing session, head over to AutomobileMag.com to see all the photos. I would also suggest that if you really want to dive into the pool of C7 speculation, head over to the Corvette Forum’s C7 section where the eagle-eyed enthusiasts are pointing out and questioning every minor detail.

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