Cadillac Lyriq Features Old-School Design Details
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The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq features countless contemporary design details – from its LED-adorned front fascia to its eye-catching rear LED taillight signatures and oversized alloy wheels. General Motors designers also worked hard to implement throwback details into the vehicle’s design, though – even going so far as to visit the GM Heritage Center for inspiration.
While the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq features some old-school design details as a nod to the automaker’s long and storied past, it’d be easy for them to go unnoticed. For starters, designers implemented multiple iterations of the Cadillac logo throughout the Lyriq’s cabin, according to Automotive News, serving as a subtle throwback to Cadillac’s of yore and also underlining the automaker’s modern-day transformation. This includes three birds etched into the driver’s and passenger’s side door panels, which are known as “merlettes” and are a reference to the original 1902 Cadillac crest.
Tristan Murphy, manager of Cadillac interior design, told Automotive News these throwback details are intended to set the Lyriq apart from new EVs from start-up companies like Tesla or Lucid.
“It’s just a nice little wink and a nod to our past. There’s so many startups. They’re all groundbreaking and new,” said Murphy. “We actually do have this amazing history that we can pull from and have a little bit of fun.”
Murphy also told Automotive News in September that the Lyriq’s unique dashboard design was inspired by cantilever balconies. This dashboard design allowed the automaker to implement a lined storage space near the driver big enough for a purse or shopping bag, along with a hidden jewellery box compartment. The jewellery box could be viewed as a throwback to opulent, over-the-top options offered in vintage Cadillac models – like the magnetic interior glove box bar set offered in the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, for example.
The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will enter production at the GM Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee early next year. The vehicle will at first be offered as a well-equipped Debut Edition, which will come standard with a 100.4 kWh Ultium lithium-ion battery pack and a single Ultium Drive electric motor mounted on the rear axle producing a GM-estimated 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. Reservations for the Debut Edition opened in September and sold out in minutes.
U.S. deliveries of the 2023 Cadillac will commence in the first quarter of 2022. Prices start at $59,990 including destination and freight.
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This EV will be a new favorite among classic car lovers, Being too geeky will turn away older gas engine car owners. And it is more car for the same price as a Tesla Model Y which may go faster but no Cadillac buyer wants to race while enjoying his drive in pure luxury.
I made my plans to buy my own Lyriq in 2023.
It’s hard to believe a EV Cadillac starting price is 60K
I will be getting the AWD model Lyriq when its available. It really is a stunning looking car I think. Hope they offer a few more color options. GM is building battery manufacturing plants and electric motor manufacturing plants here in the USA that will be employing thousands of people with good paying jobs. I have had good luck with GM built cars and trucks as far as dependability goes. I had a Pontiac Sunfire that I put over 160,000 miles on and only had it in the garage 1 time under warranty for a Mcpherson strut that went bad a couple months after I got it. Looking forward to getting my Lyriq. I have no doubt the build quality will be better than a Tesla.
I’m with you. I need the AWD version.
WOW- the Spring Hill plant has come a long way from the days when my 1997 Saturn S rolled off the assembly line( I purchased it as a certified vehicle in March 2000) and my 2007 ION sedan rolled off the line in late October 2006. I purchased the ION new and it runs great with only 86,000 miles -OK a bit of wear such as defunct power drivers window. Considering the bad rap the ION received I see a number used with fairly hight muleage for sale. Quite frankly I think that GM did not care about Saturn and was glad to let it go. This new Cadillac is certainly beautiful but only time will tell whether its dependable and can go the long haul. Something tells me thought that this Cadillac will be better built than a Tesla.
Why does everyone have to follow Tesla with those door handles? Some of us live in cold climates and have you ever had a 1/4 inch of freezing rain encapsulate your car and door handles? That little motor that pops it open is going to burn out in no time. Give me a regular handle that is built for the long haul.
Don’t buy it then if it bothers you that much.
Walt W. and Mike:
I too live in a sometimes ‘Sleet-Bound’ locale… The problem with the Tesla was that, out-of-warranty repair of ONE DOOR cost about $1200.. Since all 4 doors would try to ‘present’ as you walked up to the car – the repair bill was $4800 to replace 4 stripped tiny worm gears made out of POT metal.
Both German and American Machinists completely solved the issue by offering stainless-steel replacement parts – with the design given out freely at no charge to Tesla.
The 4 watt (1/200th horsepower) motor in each door never smoked, but obviously it was ineffectual connected to broken, stripped gears..
Tesla declined to change their Horrid Design, thinking their customers are just made of money.
My 2014 Caddy ELR (7 3/4 years old at this point) has the somewhat silly SOLENOID actuated door latches, along with a hidden PAD operated switch at each door… It has never left me stranded, but I did have to purchase a fairly easy to replace ‘pad switch’ on the driver’s door for $25.
If the Lyriq has similar reliability to the Caddy ELR, it won’t be so bad.
Tesla seems to want to be included among the fraternity of the high-buck, luxury European cars that cost an arm and a leg to repair due to over-priced parts that are only available from Tesla. Parts for North American built cars and trucks from Ford, GM and Stellantis are typically easier to find, and because the technology isn’t as ultra advanced as, say, on a Mercedes, and are way cheaper to buy. Most drivers of BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes lease their cars rather than buying them outright, it has been said, is due to the fact that out-of-warranty repair parts cost is outrageous – $1200 for strut or $900 for a brake disc, for example. Drivers prefers to lease the cars as long as the factory warranty is in effect, and then dump them, when the lease is up at 30-40K miles, just when most cars start needing heavier maintenance.
Door handles dont pop out on the Lyriq. Theyre capacitive, as soon as you touch the handle the whole door pops open a bit so you can grab the edge of the door to open it.
Another car you can’t buy yet.
If you read the line under the final photo of the Lyriq, it says that deliveries will begin in the first quarter of 2022. As 2022 will begin in two days, that means the car will available in this coming spring – approximately 100 days or so. That’s really not that long of a time to wait. Automakers traditionally show sneak-peeks of their new models six months to a year before the cars are released to the public at auto shows or publicity photos released to the media, so one season of waiting is no big deal.
Guess what? Ford claimed the bronco was going to be available spring of 2021 oops.
On the topic of ‘Old-School Design Details’, I see a strong similarity to mid-50’s Lincolns in the Lyriq’s dashboard design.
Ev Cadillacs should reflect lineage with classic Cadillacs of the past.
I realize all the photos of the Lyriq are promo photos provided by Cadillac, and not GM Authority, but it would have been nice to see some examples of the “throwback” design elements mentioned. The early 1900s original brass Cadillac logo script that adorned the radiators of the Caddys of that era placed on the glove compartment door or console bin cover would be cool. The little merlette ducks probably won’t be recognized by most drivers, however many long-time Cadillac fans would certainly remember the “V” that used to be beneath the crest, or the laurel wreath that replaced the “V” in the 1980s.
Mark Reuss says that Electric is Cadillac’s “last chance”. Cadillac will probably fail on the US due to brand like Lucid, Tesla, and Rivian–none of which will ever realize their market cap bubble but, nonetheless these brands will cater to niche consumer bases and take enough buyers to wound Cadillac’s “iq” line up.
I’m in the minority, believe ICE is far from dead and that Toyota is correct about different mobility ssd solutions for different markets. An EV does no good if powdered by a coal plant. With that said Blackwing is the only part of Cadillac with a future a n.v d should be sharing global dealer space with Corvette.