GM’s design Instagram page loves to hit us with some random sketches. It’s almost like they pay someone just to sketch out crazy stuff. Sometimes they hint at something realistic like this one that looked like a larger Cadillac Lyriq. Other times they are just outlandish design concepts like the self-driving gamer car that we laid eyes on in March 2021. This latest design, however, is something that could actually have potential even though it probably, most certainly doesn’t.

A Real Successor to the Cadillac XLR?

The latest post on GM’s design Instagram is this sleek and sporty two-door sports \ hypercar that has production written all over it. The long wheelbase hints at some true handling capability, while the four-seat interior hints at some level of practicality. The front end appears to be derived from a blend of exotic design cues with a hint of Formula 1 racing. It’s clearly a Cadillac as tastefully mentioned on the bottom of the long entry doors. Could this be the Cadillac version of the C8 Corvette with two extra seats? Yeah, don’t hold your breath, but it’s cool to think about.

What we were really thinking about, though, is why shouldn’t GM bring back the XLR name? Do you remember the XLR? It was a two-seat roadster that was based on the C6-gen Corvette and served as a spiritual successor to the Cadillac Allante. It wasn’t the sportiest model on the planet, but that doesn’t mean the name couldn’t come back to reside on a two-door four-seater like this one. And, this isn’t exactly smoke and mirrors, either, as there is just a sliver of hope that the XLR name could come back.

In 2012, there was word that Cadillac was considering two new models, including a new sports car that would be a successor to the old one-gen XLR. But, way more important that that was the mysterious key fob the sported a Cadillac badge, a mid-engined sports car logo, and a retractable roof. Obviously based on the C8 Corvette, which was still in the making at the time, who’s to say Cadillac doesn’t have something up its sleeve. Is it the car in the sketch above? Why not? The C8 Corvette has been quite successful, so it doesn’t make sense not to.

We even went so far as to make our own rendering of a C8-inspired XLR successor as have a number of Instagram artists like the examples in this article. Of course, all these are two-door, two-seater cars, but Cadillac is a luxury brand, so the two extra seats like those shown off in GM’s latest sketch makes a little more sense, don’t you think?