Archive for the ‘Cadillac’ Category
September 2nd, 2010 | 
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Americans love their wagons. Actually, that’s not true in the slightest. Americans hate wagons for some odd reason. Instead, they love crossovers that are about as fun to drive as a horse and buggy. Nonetheless, Cadillac thought it would give the wagon thing a go, hoping that they could succeed where BMW and Mercedes failed. For those anoraks out there, this is the first time in the company’s 106-year history that they have built a wagon, or estate as some call it.
While some estates offer maximum cargo space, the Cadillac went for a more stylistic approach. It’s only 1.25-inches taller and about 200 pounds heavier. It’s like wearing flip flops in the winter, simply a fashion thing and not practical in any way. The look is deceiving though, as Cadillac has stretched the taillights to a total of three feet. They’ve also added roof racks and, of course, no Cadillac would be complete without chrome.
Hit the jump to read the review.
A Wagon For The 21st Century: Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 2 September 2010 12:00 EST.
Posted in Cadillac, Cadillac CTS, Station-Wagon / Estate, TopSpeed Garage, midsize cars | 
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After six years of hard work, a couple from Harrington Park are finally ready to present their unique creation to the world. Their project was a one-off customized 1955 Cadillac Coupe De Ville called the Wild Cad. This model was created by Mario and Catriona Colalillo and will make its first appearance at the Showcase of Kustoms Motorama in Long Beach, California. Its next appearance will be in November at the SEMA Show.
Under the hood there is a custom-made 7.4-liter 454 big block Chevy engine mated to a a Turbo 400 transmission. And believe it or not, the exterior paint has been estimated at a total of $200,000 and the interior gets Thunderbird seats and a center-mounted ‘59 Chevy instrument cluster.
“I had people ringing up saying: We can’t get him (Winfield) – how did you get him to come to Australia?” said Colalillo. “There’s a lot of features on the car that are out of the ordinary. I’m still getting used to having free weekends. You have got to throw everything at it in the end. It’s like building five cars at once.”
The couple hopes to sell their custom ride during the custom car circuit. Some might find this strange considering they spent so much time working on it, but, truth be told, Mr. Colalillo has been working on award-winning custom cars and hot rods for 30 years so he is probably used to selling his creations.
Custom Cadillac Coupe De Ville coming to SEMA Show originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 09:00 EST.
A little over two years ago, Cadillac brought the CTS-V Coupe to Germany to run a lap around the country’s most famous race track, the Nurburgring.
And while the CTS-V’s lap time of 7:59:32 doesn’t come close to what the supercars are capable of, Cadillac spared no expense in celebrating the feat, albeit two years too late.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Cadillac is making a commercial called “The Competition” to commemorate their supposed record-breaking run for a four-door vehicle two years ago. We don’t know how these guys handle timetables, but we’re quite sure that making a commercial – would’ve been better if they just made a documentary or something – out of an event, and a feat, that occurred back in 2008, doesn’t bode well for those who have trouble remembering what they ate a week ago.
But hey, if there’s a silver lining to this whole endeavor, it’s that Jeff Zwart is directing the commercial. Yeah, the very same Jeff Zwart that decimated Rhys Millen’s class record at Pikes Peak while driving a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup a few months ago.
Video: Behind the scenes of the Cadillac CTS-V commercial originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 26 August 2010 17:00 EST.
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, than consider the Mercedes-Benz S-Class completely flattered. Volvo has already made it clear that they want to build an S-Class rival, and now Detroit automaker General Motors wants to build one for Cadillac. Let’s just hope it’s more CTS than DTS.
The luxury playing field has been expanding over the past few years. The Germans were all over the segment, with the 7-Series, the A8, and the S-Class. Toyota came along and released the Lexus LS and the Infiniti Q45, Jaguar released the new XJ, and Hyundai is about the drop the Equus.
Reports are indicating that the top dog, CEO Ed Whitacre, would like Cadillac to create a premium luxury sedan. We would expect this new car – if the rumors are correct – to be slotted above the XTS around 2014. In total, that will give Cadillac nine vehicle modes on offer, from the ATS down to the Escalade. That being said, Whitacre has some time before he gets a new ride to be driven around in.
GM Wants S-Class Rival For Cadillac originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 12 August 2010 17:00 EST.
We hate to beat a dead horse (really, it’s just cruel), but we are about to mention Cadillac’s plans for a flagship yet again. We can’t help it. The company plans to unveil a new flagship model and a compact car, but again, there’s no official launch date for them. That being said, we do know that the future flagship model was previewed by the XTS Platinum concept, so we might be able to get an idea by checking that out. Of course, we’ve already done that before so let’s just move on.
Before we get to see the flagship model, we’ll be able to check out some other Cadillac goodies in store for us. First we’ll be able to see the new ATS model set to debut sometime in 2013 or 2014. It will be based on the new RWD Alpha platform and will be offered as a two-door coupe and four-door sedan. They might also come out with a convertible version, but that’s not concrete yet. The Cadillac ATS will be powered by a 3.0 liter V6 engine, with a four cylinder engine being a possibility.
As for the models already in the line-up, Cadillac has big changes for them too. The CTS will be moved to the new RWD Alpha platform and will get a redesign in 2014. Bad news for both the DTS and STS though, as they will both be discontinued in 2011 and 2010, respectively.
Cadillac works on new flagship and compact car originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 18:00 EST.
For most of us, the act of actually buying a car, or maybe even leasing it, is something that happens about once very few years. But even if the intention of being a little frugal surfaces on a lot of occasions, it still doesn’t mean that we can’t spend our time dreaming of the next car purchase that’s on our list. That’s precisely why online configurators have become popular these days.
The latest manufacturer to present a new configurator is Cadillac with the new CTS-V Coupe. Already headed to dealerships, Cadillac has given prospective customers even more incentive to consider purchasing Cadillac’s new high-powered coupe.
The CTS-V Coupe may not be getting a lot of publicity recently, but there’s certainly something about this car that oozes confidence and has a charismatic nature that makes it a definite eye-catcher. And even if you’re still on the fence with this car, the new online configurator may be the only thing you need to make a believer out of you.
Cadillac releases online configurator for the CTS-V Coupe originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 26 July 2010 21:00 EST.
You’ve finally got that big time job and you want something that isn’t too cheap, but you don’t want to spend $80,000 quite yet. There is much to choose from in the middle luxury segment and each car has it’s own unique characteristics that make it better, or worse than the competition.
Just like the entry-level luxury segment, the Germans have always had the middle levels to themselves. The Japanese and the American automakers have never been able to catch up. Yet, 2010 is a new year and things might be changing in the automotive marketplace.
Let’s take a look back at our previous winners before we begin with this list. We rated the Mini Cooper as the best small car and the Hyundai Sonata as the best midsize sedan. Finally, we rated the Audi A4 as the best entry-level luxury car on the market.
Hit the jump to see who we chose as the top mid-level luxury car.
TopSpeed’s 10 Best Mid-Level Luxury Cars originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 26 July 2010 16:00 EST.
We don’t know if General Motors is jumping the gun with their increasing excitement or if the market interest for the new Cadillac CTS Coupe is stronger than any of us anticipated. Either way, GM announced that their new flagship coupe is already being produced at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant and, on top of that, they’ve bumped the vehicle’s expected shipping schedule sooner than the expected August dealership date.
Whatever their reasoning is, prospective customers for the CTS Coupe must be grinning from ear to ear right now. Not only do they get the car they’ve been waiting for ahead of schedule, but they’re also given an option to purchase the CTS Coupe with either a 3.6-liter V6 engine with direct injection that produces 304 horsepower ($38,990) or an upgraded version – the CTS-V Coupe – with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine ($62,990).
Not that we’re complaining ourselves, because to be honest, we’ve had our eye on this car for quite some time and now that it’s dealership drop date has been scheduled earlier than announced, it should give us a clearer understanding of everything we need to know about the car sooner than expected.
General Motors pushes production of Cadillac CTS-Coupe ahead of schedule originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 6 July 2010 18:00 EST.
As the German luxury brands continue to make their mark in the United States, Cadillac has been left a little behind. In order to bring customers back to the brand the company will join its rivals and offer free maintenance.
Cadillac has made it known that its wants to be a true premium luxury brand, with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. Cadillac has even gone as far as hiring people from the Ritz-Carlton to train their sales team in customer service.
Now, following an announcement from fellow domestic luxury brand Lincoln that they would offer free maintenance, Cadillac will follow suit.
The program will be called Cadillac Premium Care Maintenance and it will cover oil changes, tire rotations, replacement of engine and cabin air filters, and a multi-point vehicle inspection. Cadillac hopes that this plan will bring more customers to the showrooms.
Like Lincoln, Cadillac’s program will extend for the first 4 years or 50,000 miles. You must buy your Cadillac between now and Labor Day to qualify for the free service.
The CTS has been the company’s biggest seller for a while now, but this year, sales of the SRX have been soaring. That being said, CTS sales are down 14 percent so far this year.
Hit the jump for the press release.
Cadillac to offer free service originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 22 June 2010 08:00 EST.
It’s not the first time you hear about a flagship RWD sedan coming from Cadillac. However, you might have believed that the hard times, that seem to have settled in permanently for some, would have made GM have second thoughts on a new project. Apparently, this is not the case. In a recent interview, Ed Whitacre said that he had instructed the brand to build a true, full-size flagship above both the CTS and the upcoming XTS.
However, Cadillac has not made a final decision on the future car. It was supposed to be built on the Zeta platform (same as the Camaro), but he said this was heavy and dated, so it’s more likely that we will see the new sedan built on a stretched version of the CTS’s Sigma platform.
Cadillac is also working on a new ATS model based on a shortened Sigma platform called Alpha that will compete with models like the BMW 3-Series.
Cadillac prepares new RWD flagship sedan originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 15 June 2010 10:00 EST.
A once great engine that used to be the hallmark of General Motors is leaving us. The famous Northstar V8 is ending production after a 17-year run, a GM spokesperson confirmed to Inside Line. The last Northstar will be made sometime near the end of July.
Back in 1992, the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 was big time news. It was a overhead-cam, all-aluminum V8 and used in the Cadillac Allante. It was the company’s first overhead-cam V8 and it brought a wave of new features, including 100,000-mile spark plugs.
For a decade or so, the Northstar was a Cadillac exclusive, but in later years, the motor was used in Buick and Oldsmobile vehicles. There have been many different variants on the Northstar over the years, but the old 4.6-liter was the most widely used. There was even a 3.5-liter V6 that was derived from the Northstar and used in an Oldsmobile right before the company went bust.
With the loss of the Northstar, Cadillac is left without an overhead-cam V8. If needed, the company can turn to the “small block” V8, whose basic design dates back to 1955.
Hit the jump for the full story.
General Motors to end Northstar V8 production originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 12 June 2010 06:00 EST.
A few days ago Cadillac confirmed plans for a large crossover based on the GM’s Lambda platform architecture. Recent rumors suggest that this new model might replace the larger Escalade.
Now, you might say that these are two totally different models, but because Cadillac will have to focus on the more stringent fuel-efficiency standards on the way, the Escalade may need to be replaced anyway. Enter the large crossover.
The new model will offer more interior space and should tow enough to satisfy most owners in the class. However if you really must have more capability, a more traditional body-on-frame Escalade ESV will remain in the lineup. Sources also say the new crossover will have the face of the 2010 Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show this year.
Stay tuned!
The Next Cadillac Escalade, will it look like this? originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 8 June 2010 21:00 EST.
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