C6 and Caddy XLR
Discussion
Don't understand the emerging news about C6 and XLR. Seems that in the same chassis you get a choice of two cars with,
* Same wheelbase
* Same number of seats
* Same transmission
* Same rear transverse leaf spring system
* Same electronic gizmos
* 5.7 pushrod V8 300+ bhp (sounds Vette-ish), or
* 4.6 overhead cam V8 300+ bhp (sounds Vette ZR1-ish)
Unless one is "cheap" and the other "expensive" (don't see how the production costs can differ much) it looks very much like old-fashioned Camaro/Firebird badge engineering. Not easy to see one basic car comfortably bridging the canyon between Caddy's "senior citizens to the golf club" image and Corvette's "petrol-head since birth" audience.
Must be a cunning plan dreamt up by the same GM marketing wizz who produced the VX 220!
* Same wheelbase
* Same number of seats
* Same transmission
* Same rear transverse leaf spring system
* Same electronic gizmos
* 5.7 pushrod V8 300+ bhp (sounds Vette-ish), or
* 4.6 overhead cam V8 300+ bhp (sounds Vette ZR1-ish)
Unless one is "cheap" and the other "expensive" (don't see how the production costs can differ much) it looks very much like old-fashioned Camaro/Firebird badge engineering. Not easy to see one basic car comfortably bridging the canyon between Caddy's "senior citizens to the golf club" image and Corvette's "petrol-head since birth" audience.
Must be a cunning plan dreamt up by the same GM marketing wizz who produced the VX 220!
I think it's just a cheap way to improve Cadillac's image alongside the CTS-V and the Sixteen which they say they will make.
The US Press say the Caddy is pretty good even stacked up against the Merc SL and I, for one, would rather see a more luxury oriented Caddy than a fat bloated Vette with wood on the dash. The C6 should also be a meaner, harder car than the C5 packing 400bhp at first and 500bhp in the new Z06. I suppose this means they can sell the Caddy to the old gits who always wanted a Vette for the wrong reasons and hone the Vette into a world class supercar.
I also have a theory that the Loch Ness monster is thin at one end, fat in the middle and then thin again at the other end.
The US Press say the Caddy is pretty good even stacked up against the Merc SL and I, for one, would rather see a more luxury oriented Caddy than a fat bloated Vette with wood on the dash. The C6 should also be a meaner, harder car than the C5 packing 400bhp at first and 500bhp in the new Z06. I suppose this means they can sell the Caddy to the old gits who always wanted a Vette for the wrong reasons and hone the Vette into a world class supercar.
I also have a theory that the Loch Ness monster is thin at one end, fat in the middle and then thin again at the other end.
It was ever thus. Whether you call it sweating your assets, badge engineering,or giving customers more choice its all the same thing really. Making money out of selling cars. Brand image, history and heritage are merely coincidental niceties that marketing people can make use of.
If we don't approve we can vote with our wallets, it's all the senior executives are listening to.
If we don't approve we can vote with our wallets, it's all the senior executives are listening to.
Interesting article in Motor Trend shows the way forward with these two cars with interesting revelations.
Firstly, the XLR construction is a stop-gap toe in the water. The 06 XLR will be restyled and the new body will be made not out of plastic but steel. It is also in line for a twin-turbo version of the Northstar engine currently scheduled for the 2005 STS-V.
Those disappointed by the C6, we're told that the car will be changed as early as the 06 model year to "allow for changes that Bob Kutz wants made to the car". This suggests that Lutz perhaps isn't that impressed by the C6 either.
Firstly, the XLR construction is a stop-gap toe in the water. The 06 XLR will be restyled and the new body will be made not out of plastic but steel. It is also in line for a twin-turbo version of the Northstar engine currently scheduled for the 2005 STS-V.
Those disappointed by the C6, we're told that the car will be changed as early as the 06 model year to "allow for changes that Bob Kutz wants made to the car". This suggests that Lutz perhaps isn't that impressed by the C6 either.
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