If you like the Chevy Volt but want fewer doors and more luxury, the car for you might be something like today’s Nice Price or No Dice Cadillac ELR hybrid. That is, if the price isn’t too shocking.
Speaking of shock, I was really surprised by the reaction last Friday. Ford Torino 1968. I think it presents well and offers a pretty unique bit of automotive history. However, the general consensus in the comments was a resounding “meh.” That’s only exacerbated by the seller’s asking price of $10,950, which ended up being a 68 percent loss on No Dice.
With just 3,000 units sold during the model’s two non-consecutive years, today Cadillac ELR 2014 can easily get laurels because Cadillac is the least likely to be seen on the road by classmates
But seriously, have you ever seen an ELR outside of a car show or on the Interwebs? I bet many of you have probably erased the memory of this car’s existence, and it’s only ten years old.
That’s because it was a car that missed the mark. Based on the Chevy Volt’s Delta II platform and Voltec powertrain, the electric ELR offered a two-door coupe body style at a time when few car buyers cared much about two-door coupes.
Perhaps another reason for the model’s failure is historical bad luck. The last time a Cadillac shared a platform with a small Chevy, the Cimarron was the result. That car was nothing more than a joke.
But look at this Crystal Red Tintcoat over a baseball glove hybrid. It looks pretty cool. And why wouldn’t it? The ELR came out as a production model of a show car, in this case the Cadillac Converj. I bet we’re all thankful Cadillac kept the show car’s styling but not the name.
Underneath the luxurious skin is a 119-kilowatt DC motor, electrified by a 16.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack packed in a T-shape along the centerline and behind the rear seats. A 1.4-liter EcoFlex four-cylinder engine runs in series with the electric motor and serves as a range extender. The ELR is rated for about 37 miles of battery-only driving and 340 miles with both the battery and fuel tank empty.
All-electric and hybrid cars have been around for a while, right? Well, apparently Cadillac buyers didn’t get the memo. The company sold only about 1,400 ELRs in the model’s first year. In fact, sales were so poor that the car skipped the 2015 model year entirely, selling about 1,000 leftover ’14s until the slightly refreshed 2016 models arrived. High prices and the move to a new model year for its Volt cousin ultimately doomed the ELR, with 2016 being its last.
Now, it’s a bit eclectic. It has a hybrid and luxury appeal that many other tree-hugging products lack. There must be someone out there for whom that odd combination appeals.
This one has 88,000 miles on the clock, and it doesn’t look like it’s had a hard life. That cherry paint really accentuates the lines of the car and pairs well with the factory twisted-spoke alloys underneath. The nose has a slightly cartoonish, or perhaps unfinished, look to it, thanks to the hooded grille and dead-eyed headlights. At the back, it looks like the contemporary CTS coupe, but it’s actually more successful, as the ELR is, in fact, more playful and less Igor-like.
The interior feels upscale and a little avant-garde, with interesting upholstery color choices. The center console and gauge cluster are heavily influenced by the Volt, though everything here is a step up from the Chevy’s look and feel. The wood trim and carbon fiber accents are nice touches, too.
The doors are large and open with electric buttons rather than mechanical handles, like the Corvette. The back seat is hell, as you might expect, with very tight packaging and bold styling. Everything seems to be in excellent condition, save for an aftermarket cell phone holder on the dash.
These cars cost upwards of $75,000 when new, and the seller claims this one was somehow optioned up to six figures. The 2016 models have been revised down by about ten thousand dollars, but that still seems like a lot, even with government incentives. This one is now listed for $16,757, an odd but perhaps oddly appealing figure. Is it worth that much, given its rarity and uniqueness? Or is that price just too steep for a toy car this unsuitable?
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslistor go This if the ad disappears.
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