It was 2018, and Cadillac was preparing for a new era. Designers were penning new models, a gazillion of them, but it was all trial and error. Only a few of them actually made it to production. This Cadillac Coupe, which the automaker kept a secret for six years, never did. The brand is finally showing it in all its glory.
The Cadillac Coupe was designed in 2018 as a preview of what was to come. However, the carmaker somehow decided to keep it behind closed doors. Now, the doors are finally opening to let us see how much of that concept cars is in the cars of today.
Six years ago, all that Cadillac showed was a mysterious design patent, but never the actual vehicle. Now, we finally get to see it in a post on the official Instagram account of the brand as part of GM Design's "From the Vault" series.
The model came with design cues inspired by the Escala concept, which had been unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance back in August 2016. Cadillac refers to it as the "expressive coupe" study and we must admit that we would have really loved to see a production looking like that rolling off the assembly line.
It never did, but the automaker claims that it did inspire a whole range of cars on the road today, with the CT5 and CT5-V Blackwing being on that list. We do see elements from the Coupe in both those models, but none looks half as daring. Cadillac says it has a "brave silhouette, dramatic proportions, and a magnetic presence."
Photo: Cadillac
Slender headlights flank a large radiator grille, sitting in the company of aggressively penned air intakes and a sculpted elongated hood. At the opposite end of the car, LED taillights mirror the slender design of the daylight running lights. The lights layout eventually evolved into the brand's vertical illumination with a graphic emphasis on corners.
The photo showing the concept car from the side reveals a rakish windshield and a sloping roofline that confirm the coupe silhouette, as the roof seamlessly flows into an elegant rear end.
Leather seats with special seatbelts, wood trim, and a rotary controller are on board.
The Cadillac coupe never went into production. Furthermore, the brand completely phased out coupes, focusing on sedans and SUVs.
Cadillac rolled out several impressive concept cars over the years
Cadillac seems to be the master of concept cars. Too bad some most of them never make it to production and go into that secret "vault" that all carmakers keep under lock and key.
We have recently told the story of the 1988 Cadillac Voyage, a rolling laboratory packed with innovative technology. It had a reverse camera, doors that unlocked by inserting a code, a built-in phone, and navigation.
Furthermore, it departed from the sharp-edged design of the Cadillacs before it, sporting a drag coefficient of only 0.28, which was quite impressive at the time.
A 4.5-liter V8 engine, which generated 275 horsepower for an estimated but never tested top speed of 200 mph (322 kph) were involved in the project. A four-speed auto box transferred the power to the ground. The luxury sedan could switch from rear-wheel to all-wheel drive if the sensors it was equipped with detected slippage of the rear end.
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