Car Report: Cadillac XLR Roadster
Put the top down, and crank the stereo up!
Jessica Gildea
March 06, 2008
From the Coupe de Ville to the all-mighty Escalade, Cadillac has been a pop culture icon ever since Jimmy Liggins’s “Cadillac Boogie” rocked the airwaves in 1948. Though indisputably rock-and-roll (Led Zeppelin anthems back their ads) and hip-hop friendly (Snoop Dogg reportedly christened his custom Caddy the ‘Snoop De Ville’), the brand’s aesthetic—all chiseled muscle and sharp angles—hasn’t emphasized sporty or compact in the past. But evolution is everything.
The XLR Roadster, debuting this year, is long and lean like its predecessors, but boasts the delicate artistry and spring-coiled power of a luxury sports car. The standard Magnetic Ride Control (the world’s fastest-reacting suspension system) reads road conditions up to 1,000 times per second and responds instantly, guaranteeing a smooth ride, and the supercharged V8 engine is top of the line. With a eucalyptus-wood-lined cockpit, complete with a Bulgari-designed dashboard, it’s not your daddy’s Caddy (yeah, we said it). The XLR Roadster starts at $81,490, while the V-series version—a slightly faster model, if going 0-60 in 4.6 seconds is your thing—starts at $101,300.
Be the first to chime in, leave a reply below or Login to save it to your profile.