The Cadillac V-Series.R has already earned its place in racing history. From the first time fans watched it leave the pits—initially moving under near-silent electric power before its big V-8 came to life with a thunderous roar—the V-Series.R has had an unmistakable presence. Pole positions, race wins, and a championship have only added to its reputation. Now Cadillac is taking what it has learned from the race car and pushing the idea in a new direction with the V-ONE concept1.
“It’s about as close to the race car as you can get,” says Sean O’Shea, Cadillac LMDh Propulsion Manager and one of the minds behind the V-ONE concept. The thinking behind the V-ONE is straightforward: Give a driver the opportunity to experience much of the competition-developed performance of the V-Series.R on a track.
There are, however, some important differences between the V-ONE and the V-Series.Rs racing around the world.
“Even though it’s a race car, even though it’s raw and very functional, we’ve actually surfaced every single part of it by hand,” explains Dominic Najafi, Executive Director of Design for Global Cadillac Design. “That gets us the most perfect reflections, highlights, surface integrations, and surface flow. We’ve uplifted some details as well to make it feel more advanced and high tech.”
The V-ONE also introduces Cadillac’s new V-Series logo, along with a wheel design that offers a preview of what will appear on future V-Series production models.
Another noticeable departure from the race car is the finish. Race cars typically wear vinyl wraps, but the V-ONE is hand-painted. Its livery begins with a rich silver at the nose and gradually transitions into a very dark Caspia blue toward the rear, an effect intended to evoke the shift from daylight into darkness during a long endurance race.
Despite those changes, the connection to the V-Series.R runs deep. The V-ONE uses the same chassis as the race car, built around a finely crafted carbon tub produced by Dallara, the Italian company responsible for the V-Series.R chassis. Its bodywork even comes from the same molds used for the competition car. Underneath it all is the same naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8, giving the V-ONE the unmistakable sound that has become one of the V-Series.R’s signatures.
“It takes 160 hours of build time just to assemble the engine,” O’Shea says. “It’s all done in Pontiac, Michigan by people that have built race engines their whole careers. They’re hand-picked for the job.”
Cadillac Racing engineers made changes to both the V-8 and hybrid system to make the V-ONE easier to operate outside the tightly controlled environment of a professional racing program. The competition engine normally requires a team of specialists simply to run it. The V-ONE also isn’t restricted by racing regulations that limit the combined output of the engine and hybrid system. As a result, the hybrid system can be used more directly as a performance boost. Combined output is approximately 830 horsepower.
“You get on the straightaway, hit a button and get an extra 134 horsepower,” O’Shea says. “I couldn’t even imagine that. These things are already so fast, adding a bunch more power with the press of a button is incredible.”
Cadillac’s target is for the V-ONE to turn lap times within roughly 10% of those achieved by the V-Series.R. While the concept has more power than the race car, it also uses a somewhat simplified hybrid system and its own aerodynamic package, combining elements drawn from different versions of the V-Series.R.
Inside, the V-ONE mixes the purposeful environment of a competition car with the craftsmanship expected from Cadillac. “The interior of the car is one of the main selling points with the car,” O’Shea says. “You open the doors and you look inside and it’s a clean, purpose-built race car with a bespoke Cadillac interior.” The steering wheel alone went through three dozen iterations, and many of its controls closely mirror those found in the race car. Blue accents throughout the cabin tie the interior to the exterior livery, while a GT3-style racing seat provides better visibility than the more confined seat used in the V-Series.R.
Safety remains every bit as important as performance. The V-ONE meets the same safety standards as the V-Series.R and uses the race car’s FIA-approved survival cell. Its development also incorporates the applicable FIA safety requirements and validation practices established for the competition car.
Ultimately, the V-ONE is intended to represent the extreme end of Cadillac performance without leaving behind the design, luxury, and craftsmanship associated with the brand.
“It’s a serious machine, but it’s amazing how we’ve been able to bring this curated design element to it to make it feel like a very special car,” Nafaji says. “The CELESTIQ represents ultimate luxury, the V-ONE represents ultimate performance. Both show the scope of Cadillac, the scope of what we can achieve, our ambition, and the excitement around the brand.”
Above contents © 2026 Cadillac / General Motors Inc, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee , @rexmcafee 🏁
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