COULD CADILLAC REALLY PRODUCE A LIMITED-PRODUCTION ROAD GOING HYPERCAR?

Despite the luxury automaker’s founding over 120 years ago, Cadillac’s history in high-performance vehicles dates back to the early-2000s with the release of its first production V car, the 400-horsepower 2004 Cadillac CTS-V. The XLR sports car also began its quick production run that year, ending in 2009. The brand’s progress in performance cars may have had a late start compared to other manufacturers, but today, Cadillac is racing at the top of its class at Le Mans, has plans to compete in Formula 1 in 2028, and even wants to build its very own version of a hypercar.

According to CarSales of Australia, GM global design chief Michael Simcoe made it sound like a Cadillac hypercar isn’t out of the question. In fact, it very well could happen, though he did not confirm whether it really will. He even suggests that one might be in production.

“Could [Cadillac] build a hypercar? Yes. Would we like to build one? Yes," he said, adding, "Are we building one? That would be giving too much away."

The Australian GM exec also hinted that its future hypercar could run on a gas-powered internal combustion engine, even though the brand is still pushing to become an EV brand by 2030, though that deadline could be pushed out.

“No, it wouldn’t have to be [electric], but it could be,” he said.

If a Cadillac hypercar were to happen, it would surely be a part of the automaker’s high-profile, low-production segment, and it would come at a cost. It would also be a first for General Motors. The closest GM has ever been to building a hypercar was when the mid-engine, V12-powered Cadillac Cien concept was uncovered in 2002.

Cadillac’s racing division currently fields cars in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. It races the V-Series.R in the Le Mans Hypercar class of the latter series. The V-Series.R is powered by a hybrid powertrain that combines a GM-developed 5.5-liter V8 with electric motors and hybrid Bosch components. Cadillac's V-Series.R won third and fourth place overall at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, beating teams fielded by Porsche, Peugeot and Toyota.

You may remember when we reported on Formula 1 rejecting Andretti Cadillac's application for the 2025-2026 season, but now that Cadillac has settled that dispute and is heading to F1, the likelihood of a new production hypercar seems promising.

So far, Cadillac has not officially confirmed any plans to build a production hypercar, but its performance division is still racing along. Cadillac is also scheduled to reveal its next performance concept car, the “Opulent Velocity” sometime this year. Get a sneak peek here.

2024-06-07T17:42:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd