Cadillac V-One Concept First Look: Is It Real?Manufacturer - MotorTrendAmong the tantalizing things Cadillac announced at this year's Monterey Car Week is the V-One concept you see here. At first glance, the V-One looks a lot like the V-Series.R racing car that Cadillac fields at IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championship races. But the interior is quite the step up from your typical racing-car carbon tub, and the dynamics are meant to be accessible by mere mortals. Is the V-One a future production model?Cadillac was quick to emphasize that this is merely a concept for a track-focused vehicle. That said, it is not a hint at entry into a new racing series, nor something that will be offered for sale to a deep-pocketed racing team.So, is it a future customer car? Cadillac told us that "customer interest will inform future decisions." Remember that the V-One debuted at the Quail, along with a gorgeous one-off Celestiq and on the heels of the announcement of the "Curated by Cadillac" personalization program. The Quail is where people who can afford specialized roadgoing racers tend to gather. And the people who run Cadillac are not dummies. It sounds like Cadillac could be making a serious come-on to the well-heeled.AdvertisementAdvertisementEnough speculation; let's get to some hard facts.Power for the V-One concept comes from a V-8-based hybrid drivetrain that delivers 830 horsepower combined, with no finer details except that it "shares its foundations" with the V-Series.R (we assume "foundations" means the 5.5-liter DOHC V-8). Several suspension components are shared with the racing car, including the double-wishbone pushrod-actuated layout. The idea, Cadillac says, is to deliver the racing car's performance without the driver requiring trained-racing-driver skill.Manufacturer - MotorTrendAt first glance, the interior might look racing-car spec, what with minimal switches and a steering wheel that looks as much like a smartphone as anything else. However, Cadillac describes the cockpit as—and we're going to quote directly from the release because, frankly, the words make us salivate—"an intuitive, race-inspired interface and data visualization concept that gives drivers clear feedback and coaching as they explore the car's full capability."Did you get what we did from that? Rather than having the computers keep the driver out of trouble, the V-One will (er, could if it gets produced) coach the driver to learn to keep themselves out of trouble. Nice to know there are automakers who don't necessarily assume self-driving cars are the only future.AdvertisementAdvertisementCadillac also said that the button layout could be tailored to a client's specification, as could the driver's seat. Yes, Cadillac referred to potential buyers as "clients," same as Ferrari and Rolls-Royce. Curated by Cadillac, indeed. Rich people of the world, you have your assignment: Go tell Cadillac that if it builds a machine like this, you'll buy it. You will, won't you?Photo credit: manufacturer - MotorTrendPhoto credit: manufacturer - MotorTrendPhoto credit: manufacturer - MotorTrendPhoto credit: manufacturer - MotorTrendAdvertisementAdvertisementPhoto credit: manufacturer - MotorTrendPhoto credit: manufacturer - MotorTrend
