2005 Cadillac XLR Test Drive

Cadillac's Sports Car Contender

The new $75,000 luxury performance roadster from Cadillac is long on looks but can it compete with the best from Germany, Japan and England?

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We were returning to New York from a wedding in Philadelphia and would have loved to put the top down on the Cadillac XLR we were driving but, unless we wanted to leave our suitcases behind, the roof was staying up.

The reason was that when the hard top roof is stowed, there's barely enough room in the trunk for a tennis racquet and a can of balls, let alone a set of golf clubs.

These days many new luxury convertibles such as Mercedes-Benz's SL and SLK models, and the Lexus SC430, come with retractable hard tops. The beauty of this feature is that they offer one-touch automatic raising and lowering, allowing drivers to convert their roadsters from a coupe to a sleek, aerodynamic convertible and back again in a matter of seconds. No more wrestling with straps and clasps at the first sign of rain. No more safety concerns. No more fears that a thief with a box cutter can slice through your ragtop and waltz off with your car stereo, or the car itself.

However, there are significant drawbacks to these retractable roofs. While the technology and engineering are impressive, as mentioned above, when the roof is down it has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is the trunk. Fortunately, this means that the lines of the car are uninterrupted by the unsightly lines of a folded top. Unfortunately, it also means that unless you plan on using the car only on sunny days when you aren't planning on carrying anything in the trunk, you won't get to use it very often as a convertible.

Moreover, not only do these slick retractable roofs add considerable weight to the car, they also add on extra expense as well.

HIGHS: Great looks; world-class initial quality. LOWS: Sluggish ride; inferior interior; high sticker price; inadequate cargo area.

Clearly, these snags are not specific to the XLR but for some reason it bothers us more. Here's why: With a MSRP of $75,385, the XLR is far and away the most expensive car Cadillac makes. (The new Escalade Platinum ESV edition has a MSRP of $70,155.) Since Caddy introduced the redesigned Escalade in 2001, total sales for the division have risen a whopping 25.6%. This is a real success story, made even sweeter by the fact that Cadillac has had so many misfires over the years while attempting to regain its elite status in the automotive world.

The XLR is part of General Motors' successful -- so far -- strategy to reenergize the Cadillac brand. According to Cadillac, the Escalade is the best selling large luxury SUV brand on the market today and many of its other new models -- such as the SRX and STS -- reflect the division's bold new thinking. As such, the XLR is Caddy's attempt to break into the rarefied heights currently occupied by German, Japanese and English luxury auto makers who are not shy about charging north of $60,000 for their products.

The competition in the XLR's category and price range is daunting, however -- especially since Cadillac is still better known for building roomy luxury cars and SUVs than performance machines. Among the cars that potential buyers might also consider are, in addition to the Mercedes models and Lexus mentioned above, the Jaguar XK series convertibles, the Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet and, for a lot more, the forthcoming Aston Martin DB9 Vantage Volante.

Seen in this light, at $76,000 the XLR may even seem like a pretty good deal stacked up next to, say, a $155,000 Aston Martin. The question is: Does the XLR belong in this league?

To find out, read on.