Live: Cadillac Ciel Concept

By Jack Rix

August 2011

Here’s a piece of blue-sky thinking from Cadillac. The US firm has pulled out the surprise of the show, by unveiling a brand new concept car at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Called the Ciel Concept – the French word for sky – the elongated cabriolet has been designed as the ultimate vehicle for cruising the west coast of America. It's got four-seats and four-doors and, in true American style, has an enormous footprint on the road. It measures 30cm longer than a Cadillac CTS saloon and is over five metres in length, bumper to bumper.

Video: watch official footage of the Cadillac Ciel in action

Suicide doors offer unimpeded access to the leather-wrapped cabin, and 22-inch alloys fill the arches. Providing the power is a 419bhp twin-turbo version of GM's 3.6-litre V6 engine, twinned with an electric motor for additonal shove. 

Just a design study at the moment, Cadillac says the Ciel points the way towards a softer design language for future models.