PEBBLE BEACH, CA: That Cadillac would build a production version of its Evoq luxury roadster was no surprise, that it would look as good as it does was a delight.
The XLR, as the rear-drive two-seater is likely to be called, will come out in 2002 as a 2003 model and will be built at GM's assembly facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on the company's new performance car architecture.
This new vehicle architecture is meant for convertible applications (and so will house the next generation of Corvette) and features advanced steel hydroforming, an aluminum cockpit structure and cored composite floors. Dave Hill, the vehicle line executive for XLR and Corvette, says this will make the new Cadillac exceptionally stiff, crashworthy and lightweight.
The low-volume XLR will feature several exclusive Cadillac technologies, Hill said, including the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 in its first production rear-drive configuration, which will be mated to an electronic 5-speed automatic transmission with manual mode in a transaxle configuration.
"Other elements of the Northstar System," Hill says, "such as MagneRide active suspension damping and the StabiliTrak yaw control system will be standard on the vehicle as well as Michelin's revolutionary run-flat PAX tire system. Night Vision, a Cadillac technological first, will also be available."
According to Michael J. O'Malley, Cadillac's general manager, the new luxury roadster "dramatically delivers on the promise of the division's art and science vision made by the Evoq concept car."