Future Cadillac Flagship Could Be Mid-Engine Sports Car

Unlike many European brands, Cadillac doesn’t have a long and illustrious racing program. Their last attempt ended in 2002, when the Northstar LMP cars managed to race only half a season, finishing fifth overall. Before the new millennium, their last attempt at the 24 Hours of Lemans was way back in 1950. But GM is bringing Cadillac back to racing, entering a CTS-V Coupe SCCA World Challenge Race car for the 2011 season.

Now comes Car and Driver with more rumors about the next Cadillac production halo car. They think it could be a mid-engine sports car.

Codenamed Project UP, it could be based on the long-wheelbase Zeta platform, the same platform used by the upcoming Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit. This platform certainly has plenty of space for a mid-engine setup to take the place of the rear seats and trunk. The Cadillac XLR was the last sports car to bear the Caddy logo, and while it had its own unique engine and features, it was still based on a Corvette. Not since the Fiero has GM treaded into mid-engine territory. The engine could be either a turbocharged V6 or a naturally aspirated V8. With all the focus on fuel economy these days though, we’re thinking the V6 might be the way to go.

Going mid-engine will cost a lot of money, but it could be mitigated by spreading the platform out to say, a future Chevrolet Corvette. Even so, a mid-engine Cadillac would likely start in the neighborhood of $150,000, but if it can live up to supercar expectations, it could be well worth it. Caddy has gone down this road before with the Cien Concept, back in 2002. That had a 750 horsepower V12, and even though it was a road-worthy concept, it never entered production. With Cadillac returning to SCCA Racing with a CTS-V Coupe GT Challenge racer too, all these rumors could all be adding up. Let’s just hope GM doesn’t pull the plug early on this program now that we’ve got our hopes up.

About the author

Chris Demorro

Christopher DeMorro is a freelance writer and journalist from Connecticut with two passions in life; writing and anything with an engine.
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