WARREN, Michigan — The Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype won the last IMSA Weathertech sports car race on Belle Isle, outpacing the rest of the field Saturday with its rib-rattling V-8 engine. Cadillac revealed its intention Thursday to return to an all-new downtown circuit in 2023 with an all-new, third-generation racer.
The Project GTP Hypercar previews a mid-engine missile that will be sleek, electrified and still V8-powered.
The first hybrid race car from General Motors’ luxury brand, the Hypercar will carry Caddy’s flag to multiple continents as it competes for North America’s IMSA title as well as the FIA World Endurance Championship. Unlike Cadillac production cars starting with the 2023 Lyriq, the Hypercar won’t be fully-electric. It will instead feature an electric-motor-assisted, dual-overhead-cam, 5.5-liter V-8 replacing the last-gen, 6.2-liter, pushrod V-8.
“We want fans to know that performance is not going away” as Cadillac transitions to battery power, said lead Hypercar designer Chris Mikalauskas at a media sneak peak at GM’s Warren design dome ahead of Thursday’s global reveal. “Cadillac is still going to be producing cool cars in the future.”
The V8-powered mill dovetails with the brand’s current crop of V-series hell-raisers: the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing sport sedans as well as the insane, 682-horsepower Escalade-V SUV.
The Caddy will compete against some of the world’s elite performance brands in the new Hypercar class, including Acura, BMW, Ferrari and Porsche. Lamborghini and Peugeot are poised to join overseas as well. The competitive series is a throwback to a Golden Era of 1960s racing when Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Ford, Lola and Porsche dueled for international sports car racing supremacy.
The Hypercar’s long, muscular shape is an excellent canvas for brands to showcase their unique designs. Porsche, BMW and Acura have already unveiled their concepts.
Like the current, Batmobile-like DPi-V.R, Caddy’s GTP Hypercar promises one of the field’s most dynamic shapes.
Slightly longer and wider than the current DPi-V.R, GTP Hypercar maintains a familiar profile with a narrow greenhouse, high wheel arches, rear sail, and high-mounted rear wing. Thanks to coordination with Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara from the get-go, designers were able to integrate signature Caddy design cutes.
Vertical headlights echo the Lyriq EV, while the front nose comes to a point like the Cadillac shield. It sniffs the pavement above a wide airfoil that sucks air under the car for downforce. GM sports car racing boss Laura Klauser said manufacturers will have some leeway to shape that airflow underneath.
Draped over big 18-inch wheels, the fenders are more sculpted than the current DPi-V.R racer. The Hypercar concept sports distinctive winglets fore and aft of the cockpit.
Out back, the giant wing works with a rear diffuser for downforce. They are book-ended by thin, vertical lights that echo those on, say, an Escalade-V. Blade-thin, they will be put to the durability test when the car begins testing this month.
The Hypercar program has a short development window before its first race at Daytona in January. In addition to winning Daytona four times in a row from 2017-2020, Caddy has won the IMSA championship three times including last year.
Expect the new V-8’s song to be a bit different than the guttural roar of the 6.2-liter, pushrod V-8 in the 2022 car. The all-new 5.5-liter V-8 is dual-overhead cam like the Corvette C8.R race car’s high-pitched mill.
Each manufacturer can bring their own engines to the fight, but in order to keep costs down and encourage tight competition, the hybrid Motor Generation Unit and control system are made by Bosch and shared by all teams. So too is the Xtrac transmission, while the battery system comes from Williams Engineering in England.
In addition to competing for the IMSA and WEC titles, automakers will be vying to win the two most prestigious endurance races in motorsport: the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. These prizes have attracted top teams to manage the race cars — titans like Penske (Porsche) and Chip Ganassi (Cadillac), who have long been rivals in IndyCar as well.
“Competing for the overall win at Le Mans with an iconic American brand is an honor,” said Klauser. “The entire team is excited to continue building Cadillac’s racing legacy in the world's toughest race.”
The rear-wheel-drive Project Hypercar also gives a nod to the first Cadillac to grace the Le Mans circuit in 1950 — the so-called Le Monster. The new racer carries the same stylized #2 on its side as the ‘50 Caddy.
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