There must be something about the Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance that brings the best out in Cadillac; two years ago, there was the gorgeous Cadillac Ciel concept and now we have this latest creation from Caddy’s Arts & Science design skunkworks, called the Elmiraj, whatever that means.

Dubbed “a modern update to the classic two-door grand coupe” by Cadillac (with particular reference to the 1967 Eldorado), the Elmiraj is 5,207 millimetres long, 1,397 mm high, has 22-inch wheels and is powered by a twin-turbo V8 cranking out an estimated 500 horsepower.

Yes, eagle-eyed Caddy-ophiles will see that it makes less hp than the CTS-V Coupe, but we’ll chalk this up to a case of the Elmiraj being all about sophisticated boulevard cruisin’ as opposed to all-out asphalt assault; and, also to the fact that the engine shares much of its architecture with the V6 found in the 2014 CTS Vsport.

Whatever the case may be, the Elmiraj, while not quite a hard-top version of the Ciel, is a sight to behold with its broad hood, fender and door panels and intricate chrome detailing across the rocker panels, front fender grilles and, of course, the five-corner grille up front.

What’s interesting, however, is actually how understated a lot of the chrome is, perhaps an indication of Caddy moving its models into a more modern dimension. Indeed, while the Elmiraj may not be slated for production (we’ll just have to bug Caddy about that one), many technologies in the lightweight / efficiency vein found within will be making it to future Cadillac products.

It’s also significant because it the first Cadillac to brandish the new “Vsport” badges, Vsport being a Cadillac trim line that sits just below the V-Series cars in the line-up.

If the exterior isn’t quite futuristic enough for you, then the interior should float your boat. Punctuated by a single, glowing instrument panel that spans the width of the dash, other space-age additions include seats that appear to be lifted from the USS Enterprise and a mouse-like controller likely used to navigated the 10-inch infotainment screen.

Hawt stuff.