9:03 AM
The Cadillac XLR is nearing the end, and the 2009 model year will be its last lap.
“We’ve set in motion the kind of build-out of the car,” spokesman David Caldwell confirmed to AutoWeek.
General Motors is taking final orders now, and the last XLRs will be built this spring after a six-year run.
The XLR is built on the Chevrolet Corvette platform but uses Cadillac’s premium Northstar overhead-cam engines instead of the Corvette’s big-grunt pushrod motors.
The XLR traces its lineage to the Evoq concept car, which set the tone for Cadillac’s current edgy styling theme.
No special packages will be offered for the last year, and the car will be come in platinum and V-series trims.
The pending demise of the XLR means Cadillac is without a halo car of sorts. Caldwell pointed to the CTS coupe--which has been delayed till summer 2010--and the CTS-V, which went on sale about two months ago, as collective replacements for enthusiasts.
Those two cars offer more practical use, at least compared with the XLR’s two-seat layout, Caldwell said.
Still, he left open the possibility that a true roadster--likely low volume and high performance--could return to Cadillac. But at the moment, there are no known plans in the works. c
