Last time there was a new Corvette, GM dared to dream big and see if it could spin it into a $100,000 Cadillac. And it worked, for a while. It was called the XLR and it – along with its high-performance twin the XLR-V – sold fairly well as a Mercedes-Benz SL fighter. That is, until the economy – along with General Motors – crashed and the Corvette Caddy was killed.
Now, however, GM is back and better than ever with an all-new C7 Corvette Stingray. At the same time, Cadillac is trying to remake itself as a lightweight, high-performance luxury brand inline with BMW and other European automakers. Does this mean that the Stingray, just like the C6 before it, could underpin a Cadillac?
Fox News asked that very question at the recent Stingray launch and here’s the answer it received: “This is a Corvette, it’s optimized for the Corvette market,” said Chief Corvette Engineer, Tadge Jeuchter. “There’s no intent to offer any other nameplate, aside from the Corvette.”
As disappointing as this might be for Caddilac fans, don’t take it as gospel. Automakers are always denying great ideas like a rebirth of the XLR.
Recently, we saw the unveiling of an all-new full-size Cadillac coupe called the Elmiraj. The more attention the Elmiraj attracts, the more it sounds like Caddilac is ready to pull the trigger and send it into production. Maybe if we drool enough over a Stingray-based XLR, it, too, could become reality. Here’s to hoping.
