► New Cadillac Opulent Velocity concept
► Previews how a future V-Series EV could look
► Unveiled during 2024 Monterey Car Week
It’s buzzword o’clock over at Cadillac with its new Opulent Velocity concept. The luxury American brand has been busy pondering how to electrify and design its future V-Series cars, and this is our first look.
The Opulent Velocity concept has been unveiled at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during the 2024 Monterey Car Week.
It’s an evolution of Cadillac’s current and quite impactful design language, keeping design highlights like the vertical headlights and low-and-long profile seen on the Celestiq. But the design team have jam packed it full of interesting details. Cadillac says it’s taken a lot of design inspiration from the V-Series R hybrid racer seen in world endurance racing, rather than the current (and really rather good) V and Blackwing production cars currently on sale.
Self-opening butterfly doors feature, as does a slightly trippy 3D lights both front and rear, adding some theatre to the otherwise sleek and clean bodywork. The paint colour is called Gilded Pearl.
As you walk towards the concept car and those butterfly doors open, you’ll see a super clean interior finished a dark, almost metallic blue. The seat are trimmed with ornate stitching patterns and, frankly, look a bit uncomfortable. As well as a steering wheel that looks like it’s been stolen from a Star Wars TIE Fighter, Cadillac says being inside is designed to ‘keep the sense of luxury that has become synonymous with V-Series.’
A Velocity mode allows you to drive the car yourself using that steering ‘wheel’ and pedals the old fashioned way, or it can transport you using its onboard Level 4 autonomy technology. A full-width augmented reality head-up display in the windscreen will provide you with entertainment while on the road.
Will it be a real thing? Very likely not. But as Cadillac prepares its first electric V-Series model, we’ll likely see hints of it in future production cars.