Suddenly taking the p*** out of Cadillac's "historic renaissance" seems a little short-sighted.
That was yesterday
, but today this beautiful re-imaging of the brand's decadent past has blown our socks off!
It's called the Ciel, as in the French for 'sky', which is pretty imaginative for a company that's just announced production of something called an ELR.
The Ciel, newly unveiled at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is described as "an elegant, open-air grand-touring car inspired by the natural beauty of the California coast." Cadillac also says it "opens a new chapter in Cadillac's design and product ascent, pushing the brand's Art & Science philosophy into a new stratum." OK, that's a bit 'pseuds corner', but with a car as good looking as this you've got to cut 'em a bit of slack.
The Ciel is powered by a twin-turbocharged version of GM's 3.6-liter direct injection V6 engine, paired with a hybrid system using lithium-ion battery technology, which isn't quite the twin-turbo V16 you might have been hoping for. But hey, at least it uses some fossil fuel - and a reported 425bhp isn't too shabby.
Far more noteworthy is the design, with an exterior penned by a team under Niki Smart, and an olive wood interior under Gael Buzyn - all working under the auspices of GM's North Hollywood design centre. There's even a reference to vestigial fins in the two explanatory videos linked here and here. Fever!
The question is, will GM have the balls to build it?