Imagine An Alternate Universe Where Cadillac Greenlit All Of Its Concepts And Became The Coolest Automaker On The Planet

Unveiled this week at the Monterey Car Week festival of automotive opulence, Cadillac’s Opulent Velocity is a look at what the company’s V performance brand might do in the future, when dealing exclusively with electric cars. There’s obviously very little production intent with this machine, but it still looks great, and I hope it comes about in a more street-ready form.

OK, so they aren’t all beautiful. The LaSalle II Roadster, clearly Corvette-based, was an eye toward reviving the LaSalle brand as a sportier and less expensive Cadillac extension. It was unveiled at the 1955 Motorama show in, uh, striking white over blue. The concept of an upmarket Corvette was novel, but Cadillac didn’t commit to such a thing until the XLR of the 2000s.

This 1990 concept car used the 4.5-liter V8 found in the Allante, but mounted it longitudinally and powered all four wheels, Audi-style. This thing was wildly advanced for 1990, and its design influenced the upcoming Opel Omega, which eventually became the Cadillac Catera.

One of Harley Earl’s last designs, the Cyclone was an extremely advanced machine for 1959, incorporating radar-operated collision avoidance! You can take one look at this car’s bubble top and immediately know it was never going to pass muster for the street, but it’s still cool as all get out.

Man, I just can’t get over how intoxicating the Sollei’s pale yellow and wood-adorned interior is. I just want to cruise by the coast with this thing, while slurping an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. This is more or less the convertible version of Cadillac’s ultra-lux Celestiq production sedan, so hopefully it’ll actually be made.

The InnerSpace is one of those hacky self-driving concepts that every automaker was releasing a couple of years back, but instead of looking like a blob or a living room on wheels, Cadillac actually made this thing gorgeous. I’d really like a me-driving version of this design.

For 1953 Cadillac produced this fiberglass-bodied two-seater concept with a 250 horsepower 331 cubic inch V8. Four prototypes were built and some of them were sold to the public, but it was sadly never put into production. Remember that at the time the Corvette debuted with a six cylinder and 100 fewer ponies. Could have been a ripper.

The Escala was more or less a long-wheelbase version of the short-lived CT6, and always looked sleeker and more elegant than the production car. It was powered by the Blackwing twin-turbocharged DOHC V8 found in the CT6-V, and was investigated as a possible CT8 production car. The late-twenty-teens market for high-end flagship sedans was ultimately not big enough for Cadillac’s taste and the project was scrapped.

This concept hit the world like a ton of bricks. Introduced in 1988, the Voyage was a stunning aerodynamically advanced luxury sedan packed with tech features. The car had LED lighting, a rear-view camera, a one-piece panoramic glass roof, keyless entry, voice recognition, navigation, and massage seats. With a 275 horsepower V8, the car was so slippery through the air that it could allegedly hit 200 miles per hour. A coupe version featuring a 430 horsepower V12 was co-developed with Lotus, but never went beyond the concept stage.

“Elmiraj advances Cadillac’s provocative modern design and performance, contrasted with bespoke craftsmanship and luxury,” said Mark Adams, then Cadillac design director. “It explores performance driving, as well as how we’re approaching elevating the Cadillac range and new dimensions of Art & Science philosophy.”

Sure, man. I just think it looks neat.

It’s difficult to believe that the Ciel was unveiled at Pebble Beach in 2011. It looks like it could be part of the Cadillac lineup in 2024, honestly. This is just a spectacular car. It was designed to be powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 and a hybrid electric power boost for 425 horsepower combined. This car was slated for production, but it was killed before getting off the ground.

With a sixteen-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, Cadillac said this car produced 1,000 horsepower “minimum” and could push the 5,000 pound luxury machine along quite well, while still delivering 17 miles per gallon with cylinder deactivation technology. This was a callback to Cadillac’s ultra-plush pre-war sixteen-cylinder machines, and delivered extreme levels of fit and finish with a Bvlgari clock in the dash and a carved crystal Cadillac logo. This thing could have put up a direct fight against Maybach in the 2000s.

I will not hear any slander against this cute little bugger. City drivers need luxury, too, you know. And what’s more luxurious than an ultra-efficient supermini packed with sound deadening and plush materials?

Cadillac almost made an exotic sedan in 1999 with German tuning house Steinmetz. With an aerokit, 18-inch three-piece wheels, and a 280-horsepower supercharged V6 under the hood, that’s a Caddy that zigs. Motorweek said it could “really challenge” a BMW M3 or Mercedes AMG.

The mid-engine V12-powered Cadillac Cien could have really pushed the brand’s image in the right direction if it had actually built this ultra-high-end hypercar in 2002. With 750 horsepower and F-22 Raptor-inspired design, this car would have been a damn delight. It was ultimately deemed to have been too expensive for the market to handle, with a projected $200,000 price tag. Bugatti completed its first Veyron prototype just a handful of months later.