The XLR factor: A new Corvette means a new Caddy sports car, too
A new C7 means a new Cadillac XLR, as the two cars share the same frame and other key components. The current Cadillac XLR is a triumph of ambition over reality. While the basics are good -- the dramatic styling, the smooth and punchy supercharged Northstar in the V-series version, reasonably well-mannered chassis -- the details are not.
When you're spending $100,000 on a car, you don't expect a whiff of surf shop when you open the door. You don't expect to see the exposed innards of the seats from the trunk. And you don't want an interior that looks like it was made by Mattel.
Cadillac needs a $100,000 sports car to act as a halo for the brand. But it must look, touch, smell, and feel like a car worth $100 grand. And that doesn't make a case for a mid-engine Corvette, so Cadillac can have a mid-engine XLR: As delicious as the Detroit show-stopping mid-engine Cien concept was, Cadillac's benchmark for a new XLR isn't Audi's R8, but the evergreen Mercedes-Benz SL.
The R8 is borderline exotic, a halfway house between 911 and Lamborghini. A stylish, useable convertible, the SL has a broader appear that attracts a more mainstream upmarket clientele that's exactly where Cadillac needs to be. So keep the next XLR front-engined, powered by the new 5.0-liter direct-injection quad-cam V-8. Keep it a roadster, with a folding hardtop.
If GM wants to do a mid-engine supercar, make it a limited-volume Cadillac positioned above the XLR. But the money would be far more wisely spent developing a large rear drive Caddy sedan to compete with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class first.