Hidden beneath this engine cover is a 4.4L Supercharged Northstar V8 from the 2007 Cadillac STS-V. Yeah the cover isn’t impressive, but the 469-hp and 439 lb-ft of torque that twisted out of this motor sure was!
The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept that debuted at the 2010 NAIAS is a thinly disguised version of the car that will replace the DTS and STS this fall. Instead of a Northstar V8 under the hood of this stretched-to-the-limit Epsilon platform sedan there lies a 3.6L direct-injected V6 paired with GM’s 2-Mode Hybrid system. All-wheel drive and a plush cockpit round out the offerings. The only question remaining is will this big sedan be an Audi A8 contender, or simply an alternative to the Ford Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKS?
It’s official! The CTS-V Sport Wagon exists in show car form and has been confirmed for production. The rendering above depicts the show car CTS-V Sport Wagon that will debut at the New York Auto Show. Aside from the extra cargo room and a few more svelte trimmings the Sport Wagon carries all the goods of its sedan and coupe stablemates. Even the 6-speed manual transmission will make the options list; good for putting all 556-hp and 551 lb-ft of torque from the 6.2L Supercharged V8 to the pavement. Another neat piece of trivia is that the New York show car will be bathed in the same Midnight Silver paint that adorned the graceful flanks of the Cadillac Sixteen showcar back in 2003. While we love the color, we assure you that will be the last thing on our minds once we get our hands on this smoking hot estate! Read more…
Back at the 2003 NAIAS, Cadillac teased us with a super-lux sedan powered by the V16 shown nestled into the Cadillac Sixteen Concept engine bay above. Call us old fashioned, but nothing declares Standard of the World better than 16 cylinders smoothly churning away under the graceful arc of a long Made in America hood.
The 2007 Cadillac Escalade has seating for eight, an exhaust note that betters a Corvette, and a 403-hp 6.2L V8. That spells not too shabby in our book!
As a traditional Cadillac enthusiast, I have felt Cadillac’s lineup has been somewhat incomplete since the departure of the magnificent Fleetwood at the end of 1996. While that car shared its powertrain entirely with the top-line offerings from Chevrolet and Buick, it was a car that was unmistakably a Cadillac. It was the ultimate car for being pampered and its sheer size made it the most imposing car on the road at the time. In its absence the smaller front-wheel-drive Deville had to hold its own against the likes of the Lincoln Town Car – a job it did well. In the decade and a half since Cadillac’s last body-on frame rear wheel drive sedan was built, the top end luxury market has erupted in an all-out war between the Audi A8, Lexus LS-variants, and the Mercedes-Benz S-class. While the Town Car is still in production, Ford threatens to discontinue it on nearly a yearly basis and does little to promote or improve it. Now Lincoln calls the Mercury-like MKS the flagship of its line. Yet another Taurus-based Lincoln, it is as if Ford has thrown in the towel as being a true competitor in the luxury class. Read more…
If ever a vehicle defined excess, it would be the Cadillac Escalade.
For years, this monster Caddy has represented the epitome in American automotive hedonism — so powerful, so luxurious, so big. Everything about it is over the top, from its tugboat engine to its hide-covered seats to its dinner-plate-sized Cadillac logo on the back. It’s extravagance on a grand scale. Read more…
Some time ago I had expressed concern about the popularity of so-called entry level luxury cars. I feared they were cheapening such storied nameplates as Cadillac, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. My biggest concern was with Cadillac, whose luxury cars once had an unmatched presence on the road due – in part – to a combination of massive size, flawless proportions, and trend setting styling. The CTS was a great car, I argued, but just ‘inexpensive’ enough that it was perhaps too accessible. Read more…
So Good It Nearly Makes Us Forget The Cimarron
After scooping up rave reviews, comparison test victories, and Car of the Year honors for the latest CTS you’d think Cadillac has been in the business of building superb sport sedans for decades, like BMW. Then, of course, you’d recall some previous efforts by the Wreath and Crest division. There was the Opel-based Catera in 1997, which looked and drove more like a Buick than a BMW. Back up even more to the ‘82 Cimarron, Cadillac’s rookie effort at building a small sporty sedan that was so disastrous it almost single-handedly sent the “Standard of the World” brand on a steep decline until the first-generation CTS bowed in 2002. That car was a solid attempt at buttoning down a chassis and livening up the steering like the German competition, but its uninspired styling and muddled, plasticy interior kept it from being a true competitor. Read more…
More Power Than A Corvette, And More Room Too!
Everyone expected the new Escalade to be good, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear us proclaim that, indeed, it is good. The bigger question we have to answer is this: is the new Cadillac $15k better than the fully loaded Tahoe we drove a few weeks before this stylish new ‘Slade showed up? That’s tougher to answer than you may think. Read more…
