This C8 Corvette-Based XLR Render Has Us Thinking If Cadillac Should Make A Mid-Engine Sports Car

This is an independent rendering by jlord8 and is not related to nor endorsed by Cadillac.

With the addition of an explosive new flat-plane crank Z06 V8 Chevrolet has made a supercar of the C8 Corvette. But should it make a Cadillac XLR of it, too?

Back in 2003, at the dawn of Cadillac’s angular Arts and Science design experiment, GM’s poshest brand came up with a plan to create a Mercedes SL rival out of the then-new C6 Corvette, right down to a fibreglass body.

Though still a two-seater, like the Corvette, the XLR was longer and had a retractable hardtop and Cadillac’s 4.6-liter DOHC Northstar V8 instead of Chevy’s pushrod LS2. But both cars shared the same GM Y platform and the Cadillac was even built at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The XLR never came close to matching Caddy’s sales expectations and was discontinued in 2011 having shifted just 15,460 units in eight years. But they first two-seat Cadillac since the Italian-American Allante has gained a kind of cult appeal in the years since, particularly the 443-hp supercharged XLR-V.

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So maybe now is the perfect time to take another look at the idea. That’s what graphic designer and Instagrammer @jlord8 has done here, superimposing an existing Caddilac face onto the C8 Corvette.

The latest Corvette’s mid-engine layout gives the imaginary XLR a very different look to any other Cadillac, while the taller hood line and generous grille gives it a clear identity. It’s like comparing an Audi R8 with the Lamborghini Huracan that comes from the same component set.

We don’t get a look at the rear or interior, but the revised side air intakes look cleaner than the Corvette’s and the sober wheel design gives the car a grown-up look, ensuring the Chevy still looks like the true performance car of the pair.

As for engines, sadly Cadillac killed off the fine DOHC Blackwing motor it developed for the CT6, and the Z06’s high-revving 5.5-liter V8 probably wouldn’t suit a Cadillac sports car’s personality. So we’d drop in the 668 hp supercharged 6.2 from the CT5-V Blackwing and give the guys at AMG something to think about.

Does this render make you hope Cadillac resurrects the XLR, or is the C8 Corvette best left alone?