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Convertible Cadillac In the Pipeline, Chief Engineer Suggests

General Motors' luxury arm is pretty busy nowadays with the upcoming ATS-V and CTS-V, as well as an all-new flagship that'll "define the brand." But the carmaker's chief designer has suggested recently that a convertible model is also in the works, which is good news for those that like to feel the wind in their hair.
Cadillac Ciel Concept 1 photo
Photo: Cadillac
Speaking to motoring publication Automobile Magazine, Cadillac chief engineer Dave Leone declared that the ATS and CTS are the "heart of the brand," but come on, who would say no to a drop-top Cadillac? Remember the last time the American manufacturer produced such a car? It was the XLR luxury roadster, which is basically a Chevrolet Corvette C5 wearing an Armani suit. The XLR was assembled at General Motors' Bowling Green plant in Kentucky from 2003 to 2009.

The Cadillac Ciel Concept pictured above does not count because that's a one-off, a "look at what we can do," a glorified retro Caddy meets modern Caddy, a show-off. But that'll change in the near future if Mr. Leone wasn't bluffing with what he suggested to the previously mentioned motoring publication. It's anybody guess if the upcoming convertible will be an ATS or CTS with their roofs chopped off. Maybe engineers are working on a direct successor of the XLR luxury roadster or so many fans of the brand hope so. But nevertheless, a drop-top model would round up Cadillac's lineup pretty nicely.

Just imagine how cool it would be to have a two-seater roadster that's not a sedated grand tourer like the defunct XLR, but a snarling V8-powered machine propelled by the same 6.2-liter supercharged mill that you can find under the hood of the CTS-V. That's quite the recipe. In related news, the 2015 Cadillac Escalade has been mildly updated recently. Additions include OnStar 4G LTE, the wreathless Cadillac logo, a Surround View camera system and the all-new Hydra-Matic 8L90 eight-speed automatic, that boasts with faster upshifts than the trick PDK dual-clutch gearbox of the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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