Just two decades ago, you could wander in to your local Cadillac dealer and drive out in one of the cooler vehicles to ever grace God’s green earth: The Cadillac XLR, a C6 Corvette done up with a hard-edged Art and Science body and a truly garbage V8 engine. It had a power hardtop, its trunk hinges were more complex than a Michael Bay Transformer, its tail lights cost eight million dollars to replace, and it rocked. But, according to General Motors president Mark Reuss, it was a flash in the pan — never to return.
Reuss spoke with CNBC last week, where he laid out some of GM’s plans for Cadillac. In the interview, nestled among all the discussion of EVs and ultra-exclusive luxury cars, was a brief bit about the XLR — and about rumors regarding its return on the C8 Corvette platform. Reuss’s response to the rumor mill? Nope, no way, uh-huh, not happening. The Cadillac XLR is dead, and it’ll stay dead.
RIP XLR, the best car ever named after an audio cable
Reuss’s reasoning for not bringing back the XLR is simple: It’s not exclusive enough. He claimed that the original car was “developed as a secondary car to the Corvette” — despite the XLR technically launching first of the two cars. Yet, when every existing Cadillac vehicle rides on a GM platform, why should the XLR be singled out as ineligible for the same treatment? The company that makes the XT5 and the Escalade is now refusing to borrow anything from Chevy, Buick, and GMC?
The appeal of the XLR wasn’t that it was a Corvette underneath, but that it wasn’t a Corvette up top. It was different, it was sleek and stylish with a level of complexity matched only by German sports cars — and a level of reliability closer to the Italians. The XLR was cooler than its Corvette roots, it elevated the platform. It’s good that Cadillac wants to set a high bar, to eschew the parts-bin construction that has let down prior cars, but it’s just a shame that such aspirations come at the cost of a mid-engined XLR. It would’ve been very, very cool.