General Motors wowed the crowds in Monterey this year with the Cadillac Ciel Concept. In addition to being a larger-than life convertible, the vehicle featured a level of attention to detail that hasn’t been seen from the Wreath and Crest in over a century. That includes the beautiful olive wood interior. The good people at Cool Hunting recently sat down with GM Design to discover exactly what went into crafting the intricate pieces. Their story is more interesting than we thought the assembly of an interior could be, so interesting in fact that we went back to GM to get some more images of the process.

As it turns out, the interior wood trim was hewn from a 300-year-old olive tree that fell in a storm just outside of Naples, Italy. The tree was shipped to a Pennsylvania woodyard where it was then sectioned and kiln-dried. That’s where the designers from General Motors caught up with it and sent the 30-inch wide planks through a planer from the 1940s, then sanded and arranged them on a gantry, and then photographed the planks so that their unique grains could be recreated in a special computer program. From there, the chunks were sent to 3D Mass Design and Engineering, where they were cut to GM specifications and glued into their final configurations. Then, Metalcrafters in Fountain Valley, California took on the task of test-fitting and applying the final stain and finish.

How’s that for craftsmanship?

Meet the tree Cadillac used to make the Ciel Concept’s gorgeous wood interior originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Cadillac Ciel concept is a convertible showstopper that wowed crowds at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Not surprisingly, Jay Leno managed to secure some talking time with General Motors VP of Global Design Ed Wellburn, and the two chatted about the ultimate Art and Science-mobile while Leno got a look at some of its features.

The Ciel concept is powered by a 425-horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine that’s paired with a lithium-ion battery pack powering an electric motor. Basically, it’s one of the best-looking hybrid vehicles on the planet at the moment, and it’s even more intriguing when Wellburn shows off the rear power suicide doors.

It may be wearing a different badge, but Cadillac has seemingly built a modern-day homage to the fourth-generation Lincoln Continental. Click past the jump to see what we’re talking about.

Continue reading Jay Leno and GM design boss Ed Welburn peruse the Cadillac Ciel concept

Jay Leno and GM design boss Ed Welburn peruse the Cadillac Ciel concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cadillac has chosen the backdrop of this week’s classic car festivities in Monterey, California to debut a new concept convertible called the Ciel, which means “sky” in French. The four-seat, four-door drop top was designed to be the ultimate carriage for a drive up the coast, as well as hints at Cadillac’s aspirations to offer flagship luxury products in the future.

The Ciel is powered by a 425-horsepower, twin-turbocharged version of GM’s 3.6-liter V6 engine with direct injection that’s augmented by a hybrid system using lithium-ion batteries. Those massive 22-inch wheels may not look that large because the Ciel itself is a big boat with a wheelbase 12 inches longer than a CTS sedan and overall length cresting 200 inches. Cadillac says the car’s shape is more natural and organic than its current design language, perhaps expressing more Art than Science with smoother lines and softer curves than we’re used to seeing. We particularly like the slightly rising chrome accent line along the rocker panels that stretches the length of the Ciel.

Exterior aside, inside the Ciel is where we want to be. Passengers are absolutely coddled in their individual bucket seats with unique niceties like pull-out blankets to ward off an evening’s chill, aromatherapy controls in the armrests and a drawer containing sun screen, sun glasses and a towel. Of course, technology is ever-present in the cabin with each seat having its own suite of connectivity options and the center dashboard being topped with an inductive charging surface.

Check out Cadillac’s official images as well as our own live shots in the galleries below. Two official videos and Cadillac’s official PR can be found after the jump.

Continue reading Cadillac Ciel Concept designed for decadent drives up the coast

Cadillac Ciel Concept designed for decadent drives up the coast originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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