Now that the decision to go with a composite body has been made, Hill and others charged with building the car say the technology to create the composite body is at hand and that won't be an issue.
Jay Spenchian, the brand manager of the XLR and for the CTS entry-leve sedan that will replace the Catera sometime next year, says the marketing effort for the roadster will also make it clear why composite is the best way to go, though this will not happen right away.
While the XLR is strongly influenced by the Evoq concept in style and content, Spenchian underlines the point that the production version "picks up many technology and styling enhancements not featured in the concept."
Chief among these, he says, is a one-button fully automatic folding hard-top developed by Car Top Systems GmbH of Germany. This firm "has designed roof architectures for some of the most celebrated convertibles in the industry."
And the interior will also feature instrumentation fashioned by Bvlgari, the famous and expensive Italian jeweler.
Spenchian declined to give exact pricing this far in advance of production, but he did say that XLR's price "is expected to be competitive with other upscale, low volume roadsters in the luxury segment such as the Mercedes SL 500, the Jaguar XK8 and the forthcoming Lexus SC 430." That would put it well north of $100,000 now and even farther north by 2002.