One of many many unusual and obscure automotive tidbits that lives in my thoughts rent-free is the completely bonkers trunk mechanism on the Cadillac XLR. I really like the XLR, all the time have and all the time will. I do know it is inferior to a Corvette, and I do know it is saddled with the ticking timebomb that’s the Northstar V8, and I do not care. I’ve all the time admired its daring exterior design, with glossy long-and-low proportions that lightly rake upward towards the rear. The seamless integration of the folding hardtop is great, and I really like the sharp creases within the bodywork and proper angles on the sunshine clusters entrance and rear.
Each time I see an XLR in a car parking zone I cease and stare for a second, praying that the blue-haired proprietor must get into the trunk, because it has the best trunk operation of all time. Is the mechanism dependable? No. Is it logical? Not even a little bit bit. When the electronically operated trunk lid is opened, it rises up on hydraulically powered scissor hinges and appears like somebody mentioned, “go-go-gadget: extendo-trunk.” (I am courting myself with that reference.) Screw the Volkswagen Phaeton’s elaborate trunk hinge mechanism, the XLR places it to disgrace. It seems to be just like the automobile is actively disassembling itself. What’s cooler than that?
The XLR’s design is the image of restraint, aside from the trunk
I feel the unique XLR with its three-blade grille is the best-looking Cadillac of the previous 50 years, carefully adopted by the CTS coupe that echoed lots of the similar design components because the XLR. Why does it work so nicely? Its exterior design just isn’t fussy or overcomplicated. There is a concise crease spanning the size of the lower-quarter and one on the shoulder. The hood and trunk lid have a faint backbone that runs down the centerline of the automobile, complemented by a mild upward angle as the attention strikes to the crisp, nearly proper angle that separates the highest of the automobile from the edges, however it all simply harmonizes higher than The Bee Gees. It is merely good.
The trunk operation is the alternative of that design ethos. It is extra overcomplicated and ostentatious than some other trunk I do know of. Folding hardtops have been all the trend within the early 2000s, however they require in depth engineering magic to work proper, and so they usually compelled designers to sacrifice a clear silhouette and accept a bulbous or elongated trunk like that of the Volkswagen Eos or Pontiac G6 Convertible. Cadillac averted compromising the XLR’s sharp glossy strains simply to suit it with an influence folding hardtop, however the design necessitated some critical engineering.
Here is the way it works
The XLR was solely supplied with a power-operated trunk lid that might be opened remotely utilizing the important thing fob, by pushing the dash-mounted button, or by a button on the trunk itself. The trunk lid truly begins the place the facet quarter-window ends in an effort to present the mandatory clearance for the folding roof and glass panels to tuck away into the trunk. Given the XLR’s brief rear deck, the trunk hinges needed to be engineered to elevate the trunk lid up and out of the best way so the flat portion of the folding steel roof that really sits above the occupants can clear the trunk lid and fold away. The XLR’s prime operation is one other image of engineering magic; the facet quarter home windows do not even retract into the physique of the automobile, they’re built-in into the folding roof mechanism and find yourself laying flat beneath the roof when it’s retracted.
The mechanism, together with accessing the trunk in an XLR, is primarily powered by hydraulic pumps, however there are some fuel struts that additionally assist within the difficult course of. As you may anticipate, there are a variety of potential failure factors which might be generally mentioned on Cadillac boards. It seems that having a trunk that is solely accessible by a system of difficult hydraulics that appear to be a standard failure level is a foul thought, however fortunately it looks as if the web has a variety of solutions relating to its operation.
That is a part of the attract of the XLR’s wacky trunk mechanism — it is a completely over-engineered, absurdly difficult, and distinctive technique to accomplish a boring process that most individuals do a whole bunch of occasions with no second thought. Issues just like the Cadillac XLR’s over-engineered trunk lid are like catnip to us automobile nerds, so indulge and watch the mechanism operate a pair hundred occasions.
