{"id":74657,"date":"2024-07-22T09:03:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T13:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74657"},"modified":"2024-07-22T09:03:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T13:03:14","slug":"cadillac-sollei-convertible-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74657","title":{"rendered":"Cadillac Sollei is a striking electric convertible. It’s also just a concept for now – Autoblog"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARREN, Mich. \u2014 Cadillac has a long line of concepts that illustrate the brand\u2019s history and style. Now comes the Cadillac Sollei, a striking, open-air electric car that hearkens back to the coachbuilt automobiles from a century ago, while showcasing modern technology and renewable materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sollei blends the Latin words for sun, <\/span>sol<\/span><\/i>, with <\/span>lei<\/span><\/i> for leisure, to create an airy name for the two-plus-two droptop. The concept car is long with a wide stance, prominent grille and huge wheels. Naturally, it\u2019s a Cadillac, so there\u2019s distinctive lighting elements front and rear, and the back is rounded off in boattail style. Cadillac dusted off a color, Manila Cream, it first used from 1957 to ’58.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sollei is basically a convertible version of the Celestiq, a <\/span>$340,000 limited-run sedan<\/span><\/a> built on General Motors\u2019 historic Tech Center Campus north of Detroit. They have the same length, wheelbase and electric propulsion system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The big question: Will Cadillac build the Sollei?<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cToday it is a design exploration,\u201d Cadillac vice president John Roth said.<\/span><\/p>\n

GM\u2019s head of design Michael Simcoe said: \u201cThis is a concept. Anything is possible, but at the moment this is just a concept.\u201d He added it would be an \u201ceasy change\u201d as an \u201cexpression\u201d of the Celestiq\u2019s architecture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cadillac is not saying yes, but it\u2019s not saying no. Given that its sibling, the Celestiq, will be partially handbuilt in low numbers, it\u2019s certainly conceivable the Sollei could be produced as another bespoke option in Cadillac\u2019s quasi-coachbuilding operation. Unlike some concepts, the Sollei would probably make good business sense, adding scale on a low-volume platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as GM executives note, the Sollei is still a concept car. Though it runs, it doesn\u2019t actually have a roof, and Cadillac didn\u2019t reveal any powertrain specs. Its next duty will be to star in private events for potential Cadillac buyers around the Pebble Beach Concours d\u2019Elegance in August.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The cabin has a <\/span>55-inch touchscreen<\/span><\/a>, also found in the new Escalade, and crystal glasses in a beverage chiller. There\u2019s another, smaller screen mounted between the driver and passenger, which is from the Celestiq. The interior also has wood veneer, ambient lighting customizable with 126 different color options, and Nappa leather that uses a pigment to create the look of changing color.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe vehicle is represented by the sun, travel and leisure,\u201d said Erin Crossley, Cadillac design director.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is evident in some of the interior details, like a case with a list of 3D-printed bird calls (actual glass whistles) and a journal to log your sightings. The charging pad and map pockets in the doors are made from Fine Mycelium, a trademarked renewable material sourced from mushroom roots by a company called MycoWorks. The floor mats are a material called Bask, a fabric made from fine boucle yarn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Sollei follows a string of notable Cadillac concepts, including the <\/span>Ciel<\/span><\/a> convertible (2011) and <\/span>Elmiraj<\/span><\/a> (2013) coupe that were never built, but inspired design cues of future production cars. Cadillac recently pulled the <\/span>Expressive<\/span><\/a> concept out of its vault, a never-before seen design study that previewed the CT4 and CT5 sedans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simcoe, GM\u2019s design chief since 2016, said Cadillac uses concepts to create a vision for the brand, while staking out its take on luxury with a level of \u201cAmerican brashness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cadillac used the Sollei\u2019s reveal to show off its client experience center for Celestiq buyers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>at its Tech Center Campus. Called Cadillac House at Vanderbilt, the structure was designed by celebrated modern architect <\/span>Eero Saarinin<\/span><\/a>. The building is named after <\/span>Suzanne Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a>, one of the first women to work at GM Design. Her projects included the 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Baroness coupe and Cadillac Saxony convertible.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WARREN, Mich. \u2014 Cadillac has a long line of concepts that illustrate the brand\u2019s history and style. Now comes the Cadillac Sollei, a striking, open-air electric car that hearkens back to the coachbuilt automobiles from a century ago, while showcasing modern technology and renewable materials. Sollei blends the Latin words for sun, sol, with lei […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}