First Look: Cadillac Ciel Concept

For those of you getting tired of the same-old-same-old rides from Cadillac that last few years (See: futuristic styling with unique lines), then the General Motors luxury maker may have something refreshing for you.

At the Monterey Car Classic in Monterey, California this past week, Cadillac debuted their newest concept - the Ciel, a drop-top concept with room for four.

The details from AutoBlog.com:



Cadillac Ciel Concept designed for decadent drives up the coast

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/08/cadillaccielconceptrev29.jp-opt.jpg
Photo Via AutoBlog

Cadillac has chosen the backdrop of this week's classic car festivities in Monterey, California to debut a new concept convertible called the Ciel, which means "sky" in French. The four-seat, four-door drop top was designed to be the ultimate carriage for a drive up the coast, as well as hints at Cadillac's aspirations to offer flagship luxury products in the future.

The Ciel is powered by a 425-horsepower, twin-turbocharged version of GM's 3.6-liter V6 engine with direct injection that's augmented by a hybrid system using lithium-ion batteries. Those massive 22-inch wheels may not look that large because the Ciel itself is a big boat with a wheelbase 12 inches longer than a CTS sedan and overall length cresting 200 inches. Cadillac says the car's shape is more natural and organic than its current design language, perhaps expressing more Art than Science with smoother lines and softer curves than we're used to seeing. We particularly like the slightly rising chrome accent line along the rocker panels that stretches the length of the Ciel.

Exterior aside, inside the Ciel is where we want to be. Passengers are absolutely coddled in their individual bucket seats with unique niceties like pull-out blankets to ward off an evening's chill, aromatherapy controls in the armrests and a drawer containing sun screen, sun glasses and a towel. Of course, technology is ever-present in the cabin with each seat having its own suite of connectivity options and the center dashboard being topped with an inductive charging surface.

Check out Cadillac's official images as well as our own live shots in the galleries below. Two official videos and Cadillac's official PR can be found after the jump

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I like it. I'm the kind of guy, though, that looks for beauty in cars as much as functionality and this is a good looking car.

It suggests to me the the classic roots/retro vibe that we all wish our favorite manufacturers would try and this looks pretty successful (in my opinion, anyway).

It speaks to me as a car that I would like to take out and cruise in with the radio playing some relaxing music while I enjoy the scenery and the company, thanks especially to it's likely roots reaching all the way back to the boats of cars that cruising Cadillacs used to be.

I'm not typically high on Cadillac products, and I realize this is only a concept and is unlikely to see a showroom floor, but if Cadillac is capable of this as a concept, I would really like to see what they could do with a production-model retro-inspired car.

Who knows - maybe Cadillac will surprise everyone and put it into production. I can only hope.

Nice, as I said on Skype it, is a really nice evolutionary design exercise, but it will never see production.

It sort of says "we at GM can design pretty cars, we just choose not to".