Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept at LA Motor Show

The Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept at LA

Cadillac are taking a very convincing City Car Concept to the Los Angeles Motor Show – the Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept.

We’re still finding it quite hard to get our heads round the fact that Cadillac are making appealing cars. Not just cars that appeal when we go to the former colonies and want something sybaritic to nestle in and cruise, but real cars that are actually fun to drive.

Cars like the Cadillac CTS-V – particulary the CTS-V Coupe and CTS-V Wagon – are proper, grown-up cars that can keep up with much of what Europe has to offer. The American definition of high-quality cabins still doesn’t quite match up to European expectations, but performance and handling – yes, handling in a Yank-Tank – are now very good indeed.

But it’s one thing taking what is still an American-sized car – the Cadillac CTS – and making it appeal to European car sensibilities. It’s quite another looking to do something completely European – an Urban Cadillac. But that’s exactly what Cadillac are doing with the Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept which debuts at the LA Motor Show this week.

Coming in at just 151″ long and 68″ wide, this is a Cadillac like no other – it’s shorter and narrower than a Ford Fiesta – but despite that Cadillac say it is a proper four seater, helped in no small part by the wheelbase of 97″ and a wheel at each corner stance.

This is a concept car so it comes with stuff like scissor doors and minimalistic interior with projectors and touch screens instead of regular instrumentation. That’ll never make production, but stuff like the scissor doors – which rotate out, up and forward – could.

Power comes from a 1.0 litre, three-pot turbo lump with start-stop, brake energy regeneration and a dry dual-clutch ‘box. Cadillac are expecting up to 78mpg from the Urban Luxury Concept, a figure we didn’t think Cadillac could count up to.

This is a very convincing City Car from Cadillac. You couldn’t call it pretty, but it is certainly striking and a very convincing small-car take on Cadillac’s full-sized offering.

Perhaps Aston Martin could take some lessons from Cadillac on going the city car route?