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My Chariot of Fire

FEATURE BY MAX NOBLE
04/03/2025

Cups of gold and chariots of fire are all well and good in hymns and arty movies, not so useful in the day-to-day cut and thrust of the outer ring road, or the newly installed bypass, or newly minted FIA rules for a brave new world.

Yet here we are with Cadillac all a-tingle over bringing their lovingly handcrafted chariot into the Circus Maximus that is modern F1 entertainment... it being a sport no more. Coins of gold have already been promised for the out-stretched hands of the other team owners', so no dissent from those in the cheap seats.

But what is the chariot of fire which General Motors (GM), and their "world famous only in America" Cadillac brand, bringing to the circus of modern F1 entertainment?

Let's meander back through history and see if we can spot any themes other than profit grab.

Along with Ford and Standard Oil, GM was a huge investor and admirer of Hitler's Germany. The owning families loved the idea of genetically superior white guys with all the cash running the place. So the Du Pont family (GM backers), Ford (ah, well a Ford backer) and Rockefeller (major owner of Standard Oil) all invested heavily in Germany throughout the 1930s... and continued building trucks and cars there in the 1940s. When the Allies finally bombed the GM factories, GM were subsequently paid $30 million in compensation (around half a billion today) for the lost plant and equipment. Talk about chasing a profit... the tactics, and eventual breakup of Standard Oil represent a grimy history lesson for another day.

So GM has a proven track record of chasing profits above all else, even to the point of using forced labour to build vehicles for profit for the enemy. I'm sure they and Mercedes could trade exploited labour stories. I'm also confident that no interviewer put forward by Liberty Media is about to ask either of them about that episode in their histories.

Politics aside what about on-track action? For GM it was all about the old adage of "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday". They have a history in NASCAR, and a patch history in more or less every other category.

They raced Le Mans in 1950, finishing tenth and eleventh overall, racing two series 61 Cadillacs. The mildly modified number 3 Petite Pataud came home one place ahead of their number 2 car. A bizarre 'aerodynamic' prototype nicknamed Le Monstre by the French.

Both had regular Cadillac chassis, and 90 degree V8 engines of 331 cubic inches (5.4L) producing around 160bhp at 3,800rpm. Le Monstre weighed around 3,705 pounds (1,681Kg) and due to the streamlined design had a top speed of 130 mph (208kph), being about 13 mph faster than the regular car. Frick-Tappett Motors prepared the cars, with mild engine tuning, dual carburettors (per bank I believe), cooling ducts for the brakes and additional fuel storage.

Pitpass readers will have no problem smiling when it is revealed that the faster, fancier car finished behind the regular version due to flying off track into a sand back, requiring the driver to dig it out with his bare hands. Imagine! An American car which does not handle!

As a result of the warm reception Cadillac received at the race they promptly built a "Le Mans" prototype coupe. Revealed at the General Motors Motorama of 1953, it was a curious coupe. Striking rather than beautiful. Cadillac built four, and never released a version to the public.

Such was the magnet of Le Mans, Cadillac only waited 50 years until 2000 to return with a "Northstar" LMP class entry. The car being named after the 4.0L Northstar twin-turbo powering it.

The 2000 race saw Audi finish 1 (368 laps), 2 and 3, a remarkable podium sweep. A Chrysler Viper GTS finished 7th (333 laps), winning the class. A Chevrolet Corvette C5-R came 10th overall. A Porsche 911 GT came in at 14th overall, also in the GTS class. Finally in 19th the first Northstar entered by DAMS (non-factory team) completed 300 laps, two laps down on the 911 GT3-R in 18th from the GTS class.

As for the factory teams! In a modest 21st (292 laps), and 22nd (291 laps), of the 27 cars which finished. 292 laps is 79% of the laps completed by the winning Audi. Can you imagine Haas finishing 13 laps behind Red Bull? 13 laps being 21% of 60, a typical F1 race distance.

2004 to 2007 saw Cadillac enter American sports car racing, gaining a dozen wins. Finally Cadillac saw the commencement of serious results. The CTS-V delivering the 2005 and 2007 Manufacturer Championship, and the 2005 Driver Champions in the (deep breath) Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT Championship. CTS-VR then delivered 2012, 2013, and 2014 Manufacturer and Driver Champions in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Class.

Next up the ATS-VR delivered the 2015 Driver Champions in the same class, plus the 2017 Driver Champions in the SprintX GT Class.

Next the DPI-VR won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, plus a similar record in both the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup and the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.

2023 Saw the V-Series.R win the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar GTP Manufacturer champion, and the Michelin GTP Manufacturer's gong. They also managed third place overall at the 2023 24 hour of Le Mans. This being the best ever result for Cadillac at Le Mans.

Does Cadillac have a racing history? Yes. Have they dipped in and out of series faster than either Ford or Honda? Yes. Do they have an esteemed open-wheeler history and tradition of light weight, fine handling cars of huge reliability? No.

The GT classes they've won are just that touch easier than the LMP, or any other top-flight prototype racer at Le Mans. Porsche have won Le Mans 19 times, and in second place is Audi on a modest 13, with Ferrari third on 11, but with a fifty year break. Yet Porsche had a horrid time in F1, and we are yet to see what Audi can achieve. Ferrari know how to race F1 yet they are without a championship since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. That's 18 years ago!

Sensibly Cadillac is using Ferrari engines for its initial season. Not a bad choice. No doubt other subsystems, gearbox, brakes for example, will be included in the deal. Given this is the setup Haas use however I'd not be holding my breath for podiums in their first season!

Building their own engine will be harder than they imagine. Having staff in the USA, UK and Italy will be a nightmare for them. Having spent decades working with Americans, the minor cultural and thinking differences are magnified by distance, and need frequent face-to-face course corrections. Three different tribes in three different countries that can all point fingers at one another! If the booing of V. Max the other evening upset the FIA just wait until they see the mud-slinging that will commence at Cadillac when results do not arrive!

The Cadillac F1 team leadership will soon feel they are riding a chariot of fire, but one which is burning their pants off, and charring their careers, not lifting them to Heaven. I cannot wait to watch!

Max Noble

Learn more about Max and check out his previous features, here

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by Max Noble, 07/03/2025 4:13

"@Alex_V10_USA - I note in the article all the series in which they’ve raced and won. But usually serially, not con-currently. Then having won they frequently exit the series. I’m not sure of the level of autonomy that TWG will have to operate, as per Toto at Mercedes. Also they’re not recruiting top-flight folk (Adrian, Toto, dare I say it… Zak…) who have raced and won in F1.

Agree Audi have a huge job ahead of them too!

It’s going to be fascinating to watch…
"

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2. Posted by Alex_V10_USA, 06/03/2025 18:18

"GM Motorsport is hardly a small operation (IMSA, WEC, NASCAR, IndyCar..) and GM themselves will not be managing the team. That falls to TWG, the group put together by Andretti and GM. And the choice to brand it as Cadillac is a marketing decision, so not sure how relevant Cadillac's racing pedigree is.

Either way, it's an uphill battle, but Audi isn't exactly acquiring a top operation and they've sold half the investment to Qatar already because it's all about the money.. for everyone in the end."

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3. Posted by Chester, 06/03/2025 11:30

"Risk. Humans vary greatly on risk tolerance. On its face, a large, lumbering corporation is a poor entity to use to enter Formula 1. In essence, Red Bull was "run" by one man, Dieter, so that was less of a risk.

I started writing with the intent of defending GM a bit, but as I ponder it, my long association with GM, having lived in the USA, and owned some of their vehicles, and been a keen petrol head, and owned a few shares in GM at the ripe age of 19 (which went no where), I have to conclude that this is a highly risky move.

Bravo Max. I hate to be a downer on GM. And like some here, will be absolutely delighted if they succeed, even if only modestly."

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4. Posted by Max Noble, 06/03/2025 0:36

"@Superbird70 - Great story! Thanks for passing along. Yes… they are in for interesting times!
"

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 05/03/2025 23:51

"@Max Noble- In my youth, I went to a local auto show where the show piece from Cadillac was the Allante a brilliant collaboration between Cadillac and Pininfarina. The bodies were built in Italy by coachbuilder Pininfarina which were flown to Detroit for final assembly. The example I saw was a red beauty with gaps around all the doors and sheet metal so widely varying in width, one would think the car had been in an accident. Some 35 years later a similar experiment is about to take place."

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6. Posted by Max Noble, 05/03/2025 23:08

"@Laps - a very good observation. It will be fascinating to see how that one plays out. I also go back to the Jaguar F1 owned by Ford days and think how very much lower-mid-field they raced…

@Kenji - Yup plenty of on-road star quality! I had several Cadillac V8 sedans as hire cars in the late 1990’s in the US and the armchair cruising made me smile!

@Superbird70 - I’m expecting tensions to go up rapidly once the pressure is on. In this instance I’m reminded of the “Real House Wives” drama that was BAR-Honda. A new way to shoot themselves in the foot each race!

@Celtic Tiger - That’s the spirit! You’re quite right. As Murray Walker used to comment, back in the days cars failed, “F1 is ‘if’ backwards.” - The idea of the top four all falling off the track in sudden wet weather and Cadillac quietly cruising past to a first win would be a true delight for the Drive to Survive crowd!
"

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7. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 05/03/2025 17:53

"Regarding Cadillac's chances in F1, I will just put forth this for consideration; if Pastor Maldonado can win a race in F1 then, surely, nothing can be completely dismissed."

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8. Posted by Superbird70, 05/03/2025 17:31

"With the three separate factories you mentioned, they are doomed. Just conversions from imperial units to metric will cause US facility issues. Language barrier will be another, color vs colour etc. Never work."

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9. Posted by kenji, 05/03/2025 11:04

"Whilst Cadillac have virtually zip chance of immediate success I certainly wish them all the best. We need some new competition for a change. Then again we may get a surprise and wouldn't that be great? When I was in my teens ['54, to be a tad more succinct ]my best friend's father who owned a string of country hotels had imported a Caddy De Ville...and what a car that was!! It floated like a cruiser at sea and was so long that it dwarfed all other makes by at least a metre!. Despite the shortfalls it was great fun to go out for a day and just watch the looks of amazement everywhere we went. It epitomised Hollywood and everything it stood for. So go for it Cadillac and let's see just how good you really are 70 years on...."

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10. Posted by Laps, 05/03/2025 9:37

"Now come on Max, don’t be so coy, tell us what you really think!
Seriously, the biggest potential stumbling block for GM is Haas. If a smaller Ferrari customer team is beating them there really will be no place to hide. "

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11. Posted by Max Noble, 05/03/2025 7:09

"…don’t we have just one American point of view other there…!!?
I’m off to drive my Chevy to the Levee…
"

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