Aknauta
01-05-2003, 09:01 PM
msnbc.com
The Fast and the Luxurious
Can an outrageous $250,000 Cadillac with a V-16 engine make Detroit king of the road again? Bob Lutz is betting his reputation on it.
By Keith Naughton
NEWSWEEK
Jan. 13 issue — Detroit isn’t known for its fashion shows, but this past Sunday it hoped to create a buzz machine that even New York would envy. To set the stage for a big coming-out party at this week’s auto show, General Motors spent nearly $1 million converting the august Detroit Opera House into a trendy cocktail lounge for one night.
THE ITALIANATE THEATER’S seats were covered with a wood floor and redecorated with modular leather furniture and indigo lighting. As a string quartet played against a techno backbeat, the silhouette of a long, low-slung car appeared behind an opaque curtain and slowly revolved on a turntable toward the audience. Its engine roared to life and the dark sedan eased down a draped runway. It’s the most outrageous car to come out of Detroit since tail fins flew: a $250,000 Cadillac made entirely of aluminum, with a steroidal 1,000-horsepower, V-16 engine. The car’s driver—and driving force—is Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman and chief of product development. “This car will show the world,” he boasted to NEWSWEEK before the debut, “that we simply will take a back seat to no one.”
Ah, he says, the mighty 16. (http://www.msnbc.com/news/854650.asp?0cv=KB10)
The Fast and the Luxurious
Can an outrageous $250,000 Cadillac with a V-16 engine make Detroit king of the road again? Bob Lutz is betting his reputation on it.
By Keith Naughton
NEWSWEEK
Jan. 13 issue — Detroit isn’t known for its fashion shows, but this past Sunday it hoped to create a buzz machine that even New York would envy. To set the stage for a big coming-out party at this week’s auto show, General Motors spent nearly $1 million converting the august Detroit Opera House into a trendy cocktail lounge for one night.
THE ITALIANATE THEATER’S seats were covered with a wood floor and redecorated with modular leather furniture and indigo lighting. As a string quartet played against a techno backbeat, the silhouette of a long, low-slung car appeared behind an opaque curtain and slowly revolved on a turntable toward the audience. Its engine roared to life and the dark sedan eased down a draped runway. It’s the most outrageous car to come out of Detroit since tail fins flew: a $250,000 Cadillac made entirely of aluminum, with a steroidal 1,000-horsepower, V-16 engine. The car’s driver—and driving force—is Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman and chief of product development. “This car will show the world,” he boasted to NEWSWEEK before the debut, “that we simply will take a back seat to no one.”
Ah, he says, the mighty 16. (http://www.msnbc.com/news/854650.asp?0cv=KB10)