I can't look at a 1959 Cadillac and see it for what it was supposed to be as opposed to what it's become. That being a stereotype of '50's cars and at best a subliminal symbol of America's boom years after World War II. What it was supposed to be is anyone's guess but the late Chuck Jordan, GM's Vice President of Design for General Motors from 1986-1992 and the chief engineer of the 1959 Cadillac, said that at the time it seemed like a "perfectly good idea."
Same could be said for the Cadillac XLR. A badge engineered Cadillac Corvette? C'mon, GM. Really? Really.
The XLR will never be construed as being a stereotype of an automobile nor a subliminal anything. It is what it is or was; a drop dead gorgeous two passenger automobile that had some formidable performance chops. Especially when stuffed with a SUPERCHARGED V-8 like our little beast here has.
In a vacuum this car was a stand-out and most people would be hard pressed to put 2+2 together and surmise it's a C5 Corvette in a tuxedo. It would be on my short list if it wasn't powered by Cadillac's infamous 4.6 liter Northstar V-8 configured for rear wheel drive duty. If I ever got my hands on one of these, and you can get a nice one for a relative song compared to what they stickered for new, I'd drop another ten grand or so on swapping the Northstar for an LS. Might be more than that but then again I'd then have a bullet proof automobile. Might have trouble getting that work order approved through the wife but that's what I'd like to do.
There are several reasons for the XLR's failure. First and foremost, similar to what GM did with the Allante between 1986-1993, which was a hunk of junk compared to the XLR, they over priced it. A relative bargain, mind you, compared to what GM attempted to target it at but still, at $80,000 a copy this was one expensive Corvette. And a Corvette that, while being subjectively more handsome than a Corvette, doesn't perform as well as one. And powered by an engine with a dubious reputation for unreliability. Incidentally, someone explain to me why GM spent the dough to reconfigure their front wheel drive Northstar engine for this car when the Corvette was using the perfectly wonderful LS? Would powering this with an LS V8 make it less of a Cadillac? What about the CTS-V? That had an LS. Another example of GM wackiness pre bankruptcy.
Secondly, most people are not car people who accept cars for what they are or are portending to be. If they're looking for some bling-bling in the garage, folks who can swing the payments on something like this are more often than not going to go for something that the neighbors are familiar with. Or would be so instantly enamored of when you tell them what you bought if they're not familiar with it. An example of that would be Jaguar's stupefying XF-S two seater. Oh my, they bought a Jaguar sports car.
If the neighbor's don't know what an XLR is, chances are they'd be none too impressed when you got them up to speed by telling them that it's a Cadillac. Hyundai has the same problem with their Genesis division. You'll get a smirk or two from the snobs next door when you roll up in one of those and tell them, "it's a really nice Hyundai".
You wouldn't have that problem if you just bought a Corvette. Or a Benz. Then again, you'd be spending more money on the Benz. On the other hand, you would have spent far less money on a Corvette and maybe had enough left over to buy a Prius. After all, we buy cars like this just to show off, right? And a Prius makes you look smart and rich at the same time. Win-win.
Life's too short to be concerned with bull shit stereotypes, subliminal messages and showing off. If you like this car, like I do, buy it for what it is or was at its most elemental and to hell with resale value and what the damn neighbors think - this is a really nice car. Now that's a perfectly good idea that will stand the test of time. Just find a mechanic willing to do an off beat engine swap.
The XLR will never be construed as being a stereotype of an automobile nor a subliminal anything. It is what it is or was; a drop dead gorgeous two passenger automobile that had some formidable performance chops. Especially when stuffed with a SUPERCHARGED V-8 like our little beast here has.
The idea behind it was for it to be a paradigm-shifting flagship for General Motors downtrodden luxury division. After all, Mercedes Benz has seemingly always had a high faluten two passenger sports coupe, or what some automobilia cognoscenti refer to as "two place" motor car, and such should be on the cover of the brochures of any luxury car maker's literature. Viewed in that context the XLR makes at least some sense and...it seemed like a perfectly good idea at the time. Argue all you want that Cadillac should have been focused on Lexus buyers and not Benz and BMW buyers but I digress. Those that make decisions at Cadillac have never been prone to modest ambitions. 
Despite it's good looks and prodigious performance capability, especially with the SUPERCHARGED "Northstar", the XLR tanked at the box office. I mean tanked. These things aren't unicorn rare but they're hard to come by. Shame too since, again, this was one hell of an automobile.
Secondly, most people are not car people who accept cars for what they are or are portending to be. If they're looking for some bling-bling in the garage, folks who can swing the payments on something like this are more often than not going to go for something that the neighbors are familiar with. Or would be so instantly enamored of when you tell them what you bought if they're not familiar with it. An example of that would be Jaguar's stupefying XF-S two seater. Oh my, they bought a Jaguar sports car.
If the neighbor's don't know what an XLR is, chances are they'd be none too impressed when you got them up to speed by telling them that it's a Cadillac. Hyundai has the same problem with their Genesis division. You'll get a smirk or two from the snobs next door when you roll up in one of those and tell them, "it's a really nice Hyundai".
You wouldn't have that problem if you just bought a Corvette. Or a Benz. Then again, you'd be spending more money on the Benz. On the other hand, you would have spent far less money on a Corvette and maybe had enough left over to buy a Prius. After all, we buy cars like this just to show off, right? And a Prius makes you look smart and rich at the same time. Win-win.
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