Up close with Cadillac’s stunning Sollei concept car

In late July of this year, Cadillac took the automotive internet by storm with the reveal of a new concept car called Sollei. More than just a rendering, Sollei offered a glimpse into Cadillac’s potential future, with presence and panache, and packed with nifty features. But online photos aren’t enough, so when Cadillac brought the car to Hagerty’s Garage + Social in Los Angeles, I stopped by to get a closer look and learn more about what Sollei can do for America’s most prominent luxury brand.

In the concrete aesthetic of Garage + Social, Sollei sat next to another forward-looking Cadillac, the Opulent Velocity concept that debuted at Monterey Car Week. The Opulent Velocity’s more striking and aggressive vision is in keeping with a more performance-focused mindset. The radical exterior and reductionist interior, however, seem less closely tied to a potential production vehicle.

The Interaction of Performance and Luxury at Cadillac

Meanwhile, sitting diagonally across from Opulent Velocity, Sollei looked much more convincing, at least to my eye. The yellow paint—technically Manila Cream in reference to the 1957 and 1958 Caddies—stands out less in person, closer to a subtle off-white than a bright, sunny tone. The overall profile is also longer and lower in person than in photos or videos, perhaps thanks to the interior frame or the model who starred in the original early films being on the far end of the spectrum.

Cadillac tapped Erin Crossley, the Celestiq EV’s design director, to talk to the media about Sollei’s process from sketch to actual concept. I wanted to know how Sollei ended up becoming a car with the proportions of a classic internal combustion land yacht, but with all the styling details common to today’s electric era.

“The different design challenges we have with electrification are the different opportunities that are presented to us,” Crossley told me. “From a front-end design perspective, as you’ve probably noticed on all electric cars, we’re now free of that very open grille design, which was a design element in itself. We had a lot of fun with those models back then, but one of the ways we’re amplifying electrification is by using a lot of lights and really emphasizing the technology aspect, making it a defining element.”

Yet the shape of a long, two-door convertible with a square hood and a nearly horizontal rear end inspired by a boat’s rear end reminded me of the golden age of internal combustion engines. Not so, Cadillac’s executive chief engineer Brandon Vivian insisted.

“Our future is all-electric,” he said. “And our philosophy of zero accidents, zero emissions, zero congestion, as a company, Cadillac is developing all the technology and innovation to make that happen.”

There are plenty of small details that show how far the thought process behind Sollei has come. The tiniest details worth a second look include the door panels finished in open-pore wood grain, the luxe materials grown using mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms), and the color-shifting metallic hues inspired by the Northern Lights. A set of 3D-printed birdcall flutes and a drinks cooler round out the more obscure features that probably wouldn’t survive a production version. But that’s not quite the point, after all.

Luxury as a way of life

“It’s not just about electrification,” Vivian continued. “It’s the integration of technology that enhances luxury. So our philosophy is to try to make life easier for everyone, no matter what they want to do with it.”

Aside from the more whimsical details, the Sollei’s lines have a cleaner aesthetic than any of Cadillac’s current EVs, particularly the heavy angularity, black plastics, and distinctive quarter panels of the Lyriq and Celestiq. Touches of Rolls-Royce and Bentley are clearly evident, much more so than the past decade, which was largely defined by the V-Series and Blackwing models.

I would argue that Cadillac’s historical identity is closer to American ultra-luxury than performance enthusiast. Perhaps using the Sollei less as a fleeting solar flare and more as a North Star will help Cadillac move away from this era of dueling personalities. Still, in that regard, the instantaneous torque of electric propulsion might still provide enough thrust to satisfy speed freaks driving a production Sollei. After such a positive response since July, I probed Crossley to see if Cadillac might actually build it—or something similar. Of course, she remained purposefully vague.

“From our perspective, we’re looking at the data in terms of reach, who’s interested in it, a lot of factors related to the communication, as well as the interest of the media that witnessed the actual reveal… But at this point, it’s too early for us to really confirm anything.”