It’s been months since the Cadillac Elmiraj (pictured above) was unveiled, yet we are still hung up on the Glamour Concept that may or may not have previewed the stylish coupe.
The manner in which Cadillac talked about the Glamour led us to believe that we would see it one day. The rakish two-door concept looked massive, featuring a mile-long hood and low slung greenhouse evoking the big El Dorados and Fleetwoods of the 1960s. In fact, Clay Dean, Cadillac’s director of advanced design, stated the concept was an attempt by the brand “to reflect back not for nostalgia, but what made us great at the time.”
We were so intrigued by the few teaser photos (above) of the car that we wanted to know what happened to it. We suspected that GM is keeping it under wraps because its styling is just too “out there” to be taken seriously. But as it turns out, such a vehicle never existed.
“There was not really such a thing as a “glamour” concept,” David Caldwell, a spokesman for Cadillac, told us in an email. “We did a presentation a year ago in which we gave a broad discussion of what goes on in the Cadillac Design Studios. As our designers were chatting, we had screens showing sketches of actual designs in the background. Lots of them…. Most were sketches of ideas that may not really amount to much directly, but showcase the creative process.”
The Glamour was just a sketch? Wait, it gets better…
“The term ‘glamour’ was used (along with several others) to describe new themes designers are striving to inject,” he added. “That’s not the name of a project — nor was anything released or developed, really.”
Caldwell did admit, however, that the numerous sketches likely influenced how the well-received Elmiraj turned out, stating “Those sketches we showed (lots of them) were all “real” and did include early work that likely contributed to the Elmiraj Concept.”
For those hoping for a real-life Glamour concept, this revelation puts a nail in the coffin — don’t bet on one ever being revealed.