Even within the context of Cadillac's attempt to secure a place in the UK market, the XLR can't inspire hopes of anything more than a minority interest. For a start, the proud name of this long-standing American manufacturer still means little to most buyers over here, though the CTS saloon range stands a decent chance of improving the situation.More significant strikes against the XLR include its limited practicality, its cost - not far distant from £60,000 - and the fact that it's available only in left-hand drive. Your chances of seeing one rumbliing out of a Cadillac dealership on a test drive are at best slim.For anyone of sufficiently independent taste to venture further, the rewards are mixed. Chief among them is the 4.6-litre Northstar V8 engine, the latest development of a unit which has been around for some time now and which is also used in the SRX off-roader.The Northstar is a fantastic piece of work, superbly suited to the XLR's role as a hairy-chested sports car. With 326bhp on hand, it storms along in a straight line, emitting a rumble which must inspire delight in any enthusiastic driver through the mid-range and which takes on an extra savage quality as you thunder past 6000rpm.To me, this is the best bit. All the other features of the car trail behind it to different degrees. I can't imagine, for example, experiencing any great thrill at the idea of having the XLR parked outside my house each morning. Its shape - undoubtedly distinctive - is full of sharp edges at a period of motoring history when sports cars tend to be curvier. In gloomier moments I feel it looks as if the designers created an early model from flat sheets of cardboard and nobody further down the production process was able to smooth out the edges.If you are of like mind, you'll probably prefer sitting inside, but even then you won't entirely escape. The door mirrors echo the general styling trend, which is OK when you see them in context as part of the whole car. Studied individually, they look like a throwback to the more dubious designs of the 1970s.The rest of the interior is more promising. A combination of leather, aluminium, eucalyptus wood and Bvlgari-designed instruments makes the cabin look rather special, and although something about the design also makes it look rather cramped the fact is that there's a decent amount of room for those on board.Rather alarmingly, any attempt to take the test car over a less than ideal road surface set up a series of rattles in the driver's door trim. This may have been a one-off situation not to be found in any other example, but it certainly didn't sit easily with the XLR's list price of £57,500.You do get a lot of kit for that money. There's keyless access, for a start, plus the head-up display which Cadillac owner General Motors is keen to use on its US-built cars. HUD, as it's called, shines a certain amount of information on to the windscreen just ahead of the driver, and it's surprising how quickly you become used to this and see its lack in other cars as a failure on the part of their manufacturers.The only glitch, and it's a minor one, is that the speed reading can vary from that of the "real" speedometer by up to 10% during acceleration and braking, but it settles down when you're cruising.HUD also works in conjunction with the Active Cruise Control which is standard on the XLR and allows you to specify a minimum distance between you and the car in front. If this gap is breached, HUD displays a warning signal on the screen in addition to the audible alarm which sounds at the same time.Standard equipment also includes Magnetic Ride Control (whereby metal fragments in the shock absorber fluid can be brought together to increase the damper rate), heated and cooled seats and a voice-activated, DVD-based navigation and entertainment system.Literally on top of all that, there's an electrically-operated retractable roof which opens and closes in under half a minute by means of eight hydraulic cylinders. It's made of aluminium, magnesium and composite materials, so there's been no shortage of high-tech thinking here, and the rear window consists of heated glass.If you want open-topped motoring you pay for it in terms of luggage space; the roof is stored in the luggage compartment, where it reduces the load capacity by over 60% from an already ungenerous 329 litres to a barely usable 125 litres.This is a bit of a niggle, and at first I wasn't sure why that should be, since nobody could reasonably expect a high-performance two-seater to be able to carry a lot of gear. On reflection, I believe the problem is that the XLR isn't appealing enough for me to disregard the size of its boot - there are simply not enough other must-have features to take my mind off it. The Northstar engine is the main act, and it needs a better supporting cast to make the XLR a fully satisfying show. Engine 4565 cc, 8 cylinders Power 326 bhp @6400 rpm Torque 310 ib/ft @4400 rpm Transmission 5 speed auto Fuel/CO2 23 mpg / 291 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 5.9sec Top speed 155 mph Price From £56651.00 approx Release date 04/05/2005
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