Cadillac was once famed the world over for big, ultra-luxurious cars in no particular hurry. If you can picture Elvis Presley in a pink 1959 Series 62 Convertible, you get the vibe. Big, low, luxurious drop-top cruisers were America’s dream cars, and General Motors built them.
Why not bring that era back?
That’s the spirit of Cadillac’s latest effort. Sadly, it’s just a showpiece. The Cadillac Sollei is a concept car – a design study meant to inspire future cars but unlikely to ever be one. But it proves a point about the electric car era, and there’s an outside chance it could be for sale someday. More on that in a moment.
Gorgeous Drop-top With Boat-tail Lines
Cadillac calls the Sollei “the ultimate design expression of a coach-built luxury electric convertible.” It’s a 2-door, 4-seat drop-top with a long boat-tail rear and lines meant to emphasize its bulk. A mid-body line stretches all the way around the big car, connecting its linear headlights to its linear taillights.
It’s painted in a buttery hue Cadillac calls “Manilla Cream” that seems like something you’d see behind glass on a rotating pie shelf in a diner. But 2024 breaks into this 1950s design with a 55-inch pillar-to-pillar touchscreen for a dashboard and a “command console” screen for rear seat passengers.
Inside, the most ridiculous feature is a glassed-in beverage chiller holding a set of crystal glasses and a decanter. No, wait, it’s the 3D printed bird calls in the custom brushed-metal-and-leather case, “and a leather tool roll for pens and pencils, made to custom match the vehicle interior, allowing enthusiasts to capture their bird-watching experiences.”
The interior comes upholstered in “Nappa leather featuring a pink iridescent pigment that creates a subtle color-changing sunrise effect.”
Performance? Cadillac doesn’t say. But the Sollei bears a clear family resemblance to the Cadillac Celestiq – a $300,000-plus, built-to-order ultra-luxe sedan you can buy from Cadillac. That one rides on the same Ultium platform as other GM EVs.
Rides On a Modular Platform
Electric cars are built on so-called “skateboard platforms” – nearly flat units that hold batteries, electric motors, steering, and suspension components. They’re essentially modular. Once engineers have designed a working skateboard, they can scale it down to build small vehicles and up to build large ones. They can add or subtract performance with programming.
A good skateboard platform can turn into a full lineup of vehicles. Ultium powers everything from the Chevrolet Equinox EV (starting in the low $40,000 range) to the Celestiq with its Rolls-Royce pretensions.
The more vehicles a manufacturer sells based on its skateboard platform, the less the thing costs to build. Once GM sells a full lineup built on Ultium modules, adding a new model will become inexpensive and simple because of shared components.
This Could Be Done With Surprising Ease
Which brings us to that “more” we promised you above. The Sollei is clearly a one-off for publicity purposes. But look closely and you’ll see more common parts than just the platform it rides on. The faux grille? The hood? Those are Celestiq parts. GM already builds those.
Even the doors are stretched Celestiq doors. That immense 55-inch screen is found in the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ. Cadillac may call this a bespoke custom project. But it’s built mostly with off-the-shelf parts.
We don’t expect to see a Sollei on the road. There are only so many birdwatchers with millions to spare.
But the concept car is also an exercise in building something extraordinary with pieces Cadillac already has. In a future where the company builds a mostly EV lineup (something GM says it will have around 2035), something like this doesn’t have to be a design exercise.
It would just need a market. Let’s bring back American dreams of huge cruising convertibles meant for leisurely drives.
