Sometimes your wallet won’t stretch to purchasing your dream motor. But don’t worry too much, there are some cars that even the biggest bank balances can’t buy, the dream cars that will forever remain a dream. These are the concept cars that never go into production.
Cadillac Sixteen
Sixteen cylinders, that’s right sixteen cylinders, that’s what gave this ultra-powerful Cadillac its name, and also a nod to a previous vehicle from the 1930s, namely the V-16. But with a 13.6 litre engine and an awesome 1,000bhp, this was a beast of a vehicle which raised the heart rate, as well as eyebrows.
The Sixteen was launched to the American Auto-Show market in 2003, based on GM’s framework, it was a serious attempt at tapping into Cadillac’s rich history of producing outrageously expensive and luxurious vehicles.
The proportions of the this Cadillac are something to behold, created from scratch, this was as stretched as they come, a combination of the ‘Art and Science’ design theme which was dominant at the turn of the century, with notes of the Cadillac Eldorado from 1967.
On launch, GM’s vice chairman, Bob Lutz said the Sixteen was ‘a modern interpretation of everything that made Cadillac the standard of the world.
"It's a reminder of a glorious past as well as a progressive statement. "Cadillac's tradition is rich, but in the next several years it will be introducing vehicles as solid, dynamic and beautifully designed as anything it's ever done. And the Sixteen is a harbinger of this new era.”
With a solid crystal Cadillac logo on the steering wheel and a Bulgari clock in the dash, this was a car that screamed luxury. But it was also under the auspices of one of the biggest and most conservative car brands in the world, and despite Bob Lutz’s boast of this car heralding a new era, the Sixteen’s lasting legacy was the design language which was adopted for subsequent Cadillacs.
Rumours of a limited production run of a scaled down, Ultra Luxury Sedan version of the Sixteen have persisted, but the truth of the matter is that a car that an Arabian sheik bid $10,000,000 for in 2005 is likely to remain a fantasy for car buyers young and old.