Roof Goof

An embarrassing problem with General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac XLR luxury roadster had to be fixed before the car was shipped, which put its market debut several weeks behind schedule.

Early versions of the XLR made available to the automotive media for test-drives dumped water on the surface of the rear decklid into the trunk when the power-operated removable hardtop was raised.

With a starting price of $76,200, it's unlikely XLR owners would be willing to put up with soaked luggage if the top was raised during a rainstorm.

“It's already been corrected,” assures Dave Leone, XLR chief engineer. “It's been fixed for about a month-and-a-half. As soon as we discovered it, we got on it and fixed it in a matter of weeks. All the cars going out the door have the fix on it.”

GM designed the retractable hardtop with CTS CarTopSystems North America Inc. There were whispers during development the retractable hardtop was a struggle to perfect.

Leone tells Ward's that a late engineering change was made to the hardtop's hinging mechanism.

The device was altered to improve the fit between the front tip of the decklid and the rear quarter panel, a GM spokesman explains. “We had a close condition,” Leone says.

The decklid swings rearward and up in order for the retractable hardtop to emerge from the trunk and cover the 2-seat cabin. The process takes about 29 seconds. “The decklid opens higher than regular decklids to provide clearance for the top,” the spokesman notes.

By modifying the hinging mechanism to narrow the gap between the decklid and rear quarter panel, GM rendered ineffective a gutter that was supposed to catch and divert water from the decklid. Leone says the gutter was missed by 4 or 5 mm (0.16-0.2 ins.), dumping water into the trunk.

GM re-contoured the rubber weather seals along the forward edge of the decklid to catch the water before it falls into the trunk and divert it into the conduit.

GM shipped the first 101 XLRs to dealers Sept. 8 from its Bowling Green, KY, assembly plant. Deliveries were expected to begin in late July or early August.

“It's a few weeks later than we originally had forecasted,” admits Leone, adding GM wanted all the issues resolved first before shipping.

Leone declines to identify the “issues” contributing to the delay, or confirm that the retractable hardtop was the primary reason for falling behind schedule. Blame the problem on “normal growing pains of bringing a new car to market,” he says.