A look at future Cadillacs

Cadillac revealed another take on a future large, rear-wheel-drive car during the Pebble Beach weekend—the ultra-cool Elmiraj four-seater coupe. This is Cadillac's second such concept in a couple years, after it showed the Ciel convertible at Pebble in 2011. Yet we hear that the first production car to ride on the so-called Omega platform will be a sedan scheduled to arrive in 2015 as a 2016 model. After that we might get a crossover SUV before we see either a coupe or convertible off of this platform.

But coupes and convertibles make for better concept cars, so here's the Elmiraj: a big, rear-drive stunner so cool it has no B-pillar.

Even the car's name is loaded with meaning. When you spell it “El Mirage,” you're talking about the Southern California dry lake where many a hot-rod hero made a name back in the day. When you spell it “Elmiraj,” you're talking about Cadillac's latest concept car, a powerfully lengthy coupe that hints at a return of the massive Eldor-ado from Caddy's past.

Either way you spell it, it's a big statement.

Media-trained Cadillac designers waxed superlative at Elmiraj's Pebble Beach weekend debut, assigning everything short of “dessert topping” to the concept's meaning and purpose.

“It's about driving dynamics,” said designer Mark Adams. “It's a large, beautiful coupe that expresses elegance in its simplest form.”

“It's the ultimate expression of two-door luxury,” said Clay Dean, director of global advanced design.

“Elmiraj provides a look inside the Cadillac Studio on how we envision performance and luxury for the next generation of luxury drivers,” said Bob Ferguson, senior vice president for global Cadillac.

The name of the platform, or architecture, on which a car like Elmiraj could conceivably sit, is Omega. The idea is to enter market segments currently occupied by the BMW 7-series and Mercedes S-class. The sedan version of this platform could be called LTS and could be powered by a V6 twin-turbo with an eight-speed transmission, while it could get a 10-speed transmission in 2016.

There were plans for an ultra-luxury mega-cruiser priced at over $100K from Omega, but those plans were scrapped after the return on investment didn't seem feasible.

The fanciful Elmiraj, meanwhile, could just be a way to ease the larger platform into the public consciousness. We are so eased.

Elmiraj is a 205-inch-long coupe with very little external adornment. It's a minimalist at maximum. Though we didn't see anyone sitting in it during our hour or so looking at the coupe, the rear seats looked more than big enough for real adults to sit upright and maybe even stretch a little. This was surprising considering the coupe-like proportions of the roof line.

“You have to make it functional,” said Dean. “This is where we have an advantage compared to Mercedes CL or even Bentley coupes.”

Functionality includes power, and to that end the Elmiraj concept has a 500-hp, 500-lb-ft, 4.5-liter twin-turbo V8 driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic.

“Luxury customers expect a sense of power,” said Dean.

And style, which Elmiraj delivers. Now it just has to get past GM corporate bean-counters.

By Autoweek Staff