Automotive

Win or lose, Cadillac GTP Hypercar will be a highlight of Le Mans

Win or lose, Cadillac GTP Hypercar will be a highlight of Le Mans
No denying that's a Cadillac
No denying that's a Cadillac
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No denying that's a Cadillac
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No denying that's a Cadillac
Not your grandfather's Caddy
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Not your grandfather's Caddy
Cadillac debuted its Project GTP Hypercar on Thursday, stoking excitement for the upcoming 2023 racing season
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Cadillac debuted its Project GTP Hypercar on Thursday, stoking excitement for the upcoming 2023 racing season
The Cadillac Project GTP Hypercar looks smoother than the typical race car, but there's still plenty of track-ready aero going on
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The Cadillac Project GTP Hypercar looks smoother than the typical race car, but there's still plenty of track-ready aero going on
The Project GTP will come powered by a new 5.5-liter V8 engine with standard race-issue hybrid system
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The Project GTP will come powered by a new 5.5-liter V8 engine with standard race-issue hybrid system
1950 #2 Le Monstre graphic
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1950 #2 Le Monstre graphic
Integrated spoiler brake light
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Integrated spoiler brake light
The tall taillight blades, fin and wing give the Project GTP a very dramatic and distinctive rear-end
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The tall taillight blades, fin and wing give the Project GTP a very dramatic and distinctive rear-end
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The 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans happens this weekend, but Cadillac has us more interested in the 2023 event. This week, it previewed the Project GTP Hypercar it will be running in next year's FIA World Endurance Championship series, and it's an absolute stunner. With sharp, dramatic lights contrasting starkly with a bespoke all-black tuxedo of lustrous paint, the V8-hybrid Hypercar turns heads in a way that modern race cars rarely do.

The Project GTP Hypercar debuts as Cadillac's third-generation prototype race car, a successor to the DPi-V.R that won last year's IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. The prototype is being developed to compete in the Grand Touring Prototype category, the all-new hybrid-platform IMSA class that replaces the DPi for the 2023 season.

Thanks to a collaborative regulations alignment between the IMSA, Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and FIA, Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) race cars like the Project GTP will be eligible to run both IMSA and ACO series and compete for overall victories in the IMSA GTP and WEC Hypercar classes. For Cadillac, that will mean a return to Le Mans after a 21-year absence, timed nicely with the 100th running of the famed race. Previously, regulation variations between the IMSA and ACO prevented cars from competing in both series.

As with the 2016 DPi-V.R preview, the debut Project GTP Hypercar benefits from the omission of the usual loud, bright racing livery, replaced by the type of black paint that always looks on trend. But the car's allure goes far beyond a flattering paint job. The smoothed-out design gives the race car the look of a street-legal hypercar that should be on display in an exotic car showroom rather than on a racetrack.

Cadillac debuted its Project GTP Hypercar on Thursday, stoking excitement for the upcoming 2023 racing season
Cadillac debuted its Project GTP Hypercar on Thursday, stoking excitement for the upcoming 2023 racing season

The design team has moved away from the large, isolated fenders and fuselage-like nose of the DPi-V.R., massaging those elements into a much smoother, more cohesive hood design. The flat, vented rear panels on the front fenders bring us back to race car territory, but the smooth, rounded side volumes quickly whisk us away once again. Even the huge rear wing is carefully integrated into the greater design, its supports extending naturally upward from the taillight blades. The long slope of the cockpit roof and transparent rear section of the central wing further enhance the look.

Manufacturers will be carefully working production DNA into their GTP cars, and Cadillac does so with the narrow vertical headlights and taillights, floating blade elements and the gentle crease down the center of the hood. The car will be powered by a new 5.5-L DOHC V8 engine paired with the common hybrid system.

Not your grandfather's Caddy
Not your grandfather's Caddy

"The Project GTP Hypercar is a unique convergence of form and function and showcases Cadillac’s future performance aesthetic," said Chris Mikalauskas, Cadillac's lead exterior creative designer. "We have plenty more to come, from the upcoming race car to amazing production vehicles."

The Project GTP is being developed by Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and race car builder Dallara. Testing will begin over the summer, and the car will make its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2023. Acura, BMW, Lamborghini and Porsche have also confirmed participation in the new racing class.

Source: Cadillac

View gallery - 8 images
8 comments
8 comments
fasteddie2020
A lovely vehicle. It also does a effective job of connecting to styling element of the new Lyriq electric designs.
ChairmanLMAO
Batmobile if I ever seen one!
Thornapple
Good to know GM has engineering budget to throw at a soon to be dead drive train niche. Mary Barra has Elon Musk pinned to the mat.
WB
same old BS all these studies and concepts and then they still turn out hose boring asss cars... only company not doing this is Tesla
Matt Fletcher
I'm not sure how there is, "no denying it's a Cadillac," when the only thing on it that distinguishes this vehicle as a Cadillac is the emblem. Regardless it's truely a Beautiful design. Hope they make several thousand at around the $100-200k mark and screw the foreign and ultra luxury brands, like Corvette did 🙂.
mediabeing
The front is nice. Now all they have to do is fix the rear.
Aermaco
Let's not forget Caddilac has great early history at LeMans as Briggs Cunningham raced a 50 Caddy Coup de Ville factory body plus a streamlined body on one that was a monster and he used Caddy engines in some of his great Cunnigham race cars.
Expanded Viewpoint
Yeah, well, it sure does look real pretty on the outside, but what about what's going on underneath?? All we know, is that it's a 5.5L DOHC V8 engine. Not a word about the rest of the power pack!! We can surmise that it's fuel injected, and of course turbocharged, but does it have any slick and trick valve timing? Is it a flat plane crankshaft? How much power does the engine put out? What about the transmission? Are there no details about the hybrid portion of it to share?