1958 Cadillac Deville Base Hardtop 2-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

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2017 Cadillac XT5 cuts weight, adds room over SRX [UPDATE]

UPDATE: This post has been updated with a full set of official photos. Impressions on the interior and exterior have also been added. The attention of Cadillac fans may be focused on the new CT6 sedan, but the most important new vehicle in the New York-based company's quiver might be the all-new XT5. Cadillac officially unveiled the SRX replacement today ahead of its full debut in Los Angeles next week. Short for Crossover Touring 5, the new XT5 drops 278 pounds over the old SRX, while offering an extra 3.2 inches of interior space. The XT5's face balances the best parts of the Escalade and CT6's fascias, with a strong egg-crate grille and prominent LED accent lights. It looks good scaled to a vehicle of this size. The taillights curve up and over the rear haunches, which feed into a strong shoulder line that runs towards the front of the car. It's a solid look, and one we're looking forward to seeing in person. The interior looks very, very nice, with warm leather and wood trimmings. The steering wheel, with its large, central wood accent, looks remarkably good. In fact, it might be one of our favor parts, if only because it's such a bold piece of design. We aren't crazy about the sheer abundance of buttons on the wheel, though. All four spokes are covered, and it just looks kind of cluttered. As is the trend nowadays, the center console features a floating bridge design with plenty of storage space underneath. Our early impression of the leather-wrapped dash is positive, although as is so often the case, we need to get a hands on before rendering a final judgment. There are no major surprises under the hood. Like the current SRX, the XT5 utilizes the same 3.6-liter V6 as the CTS and ATS sedans. Start/stop has been fitted, which should provide a boost in fuel economy although no mileage figures have been published yet. Cadillac will also offer a standard 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder XT5, although for reasons that aren't clear, it's only for the Chinese market. This seems like a misstep in our eyes, considering the XT5 will challenge the likes of the BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes-Benz GLC – all of which offer four-cylinder turbos. With the V6, the XT5 delivers 310 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. While there's more total horsepower than the Lexus, Audi, or BMW, the 3.6 still faces a torque deficiency versus the turbocharged X3 xDrive35i or supercharged Audi V6. The XT5 has a standard eight-speed automatic transmission.

Ford C-Max spot aimed squarely at Cadillac ELR 'Poolside' hubris [UPDATE]

If we had tried to predict the first video response to the controversial Poolside video for the Cadillac ELR, we would not have thought it would center on compost. But, hey, it's always nice to be reminded that the real world is sometimes better than fiction. Instead of the chic swagger of 'Poolside,' 'Anything Is Possible' is all about getting dirty. The new short in question is called Upside: Anything Is Possible and it promotes two things: Detroit Dirt and the Ford C-Max Energi. As in the ELR ad, Ford's plug-in C-Max only makes an appearance at the tail end of the spot, but instead of the chic swagger of Poolside, Anything Is Possible is all about getting dirty. The ad stars Pashon Murray, co-founder of Detroit Dirt, which takes natural waste from around Detroit, composts it into soil and then spreads that around "forgotten parcels" of Detroit to create urban farms. Detroit Dirt gets its bio-waste from a lot of sources, including the Detroit Zoological Society (all that herbivore manure has to go somewhere), Ford and General Motors, but this particular ad was the idea of Ford's PR agency, Team Detroit. It was a frenetic shoot, filmed with an LA-based director right after a big winter storm blew through Detroit, and Murray couldn't be happier with the result. "This was Ford Motor Company pushing my story, letting me tell the story that I believe in," Murray tells AutoblogGreen. "I get to help push this car and I get to tell my story." She says that the Team Detroit and Ford had to agree on the message, "from my understanding, [YouTube] is where they wanted to start, not where they wanted to finish." The ad is already getting a positive response on Twitter, so we won't be surprised if it shows up in more places soon. "It's not saying Ford is better than GM. It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." As Detroit Dirt has off-screen support from both GM and Ford, it's unsurprising to hear Murray say that the video "is not a rivalry thing." She notes that the ad agency Team Detroit came to her and offered to tell the Detroit Dirt story using the framework of the GM ad. "It's a parody on this commercial, but it's not saying Ford is better than GM," she said. "It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." What is that story? It's about urban farming, recovery and recycling. Murray tells us that for the last seven or eight years, she's been dedicated to sustainability.

Looking back on our favorite cars of Mad Men

The second half of the seventh and final season of Mad Men debuted this week, set to cap a run of public and critical acclaim. A decade's worth of interesting cars also made for good television, if you were paying attention. Vehicles didn't often steal the spotlight from Don, Betty, Roger, Joan and the gang, but they added meaningfully to the tone and beauty of the series. We sorted through the wheeled extras from Mad Men's archives, and choose some of our favorites to highlight. The list consists of cars that had at least a small impact on the plot of an episode, though certainly there are worthy gems hiding in just about every street and driving scene. Check out our subjective top five, and then let us know which of the Mad Men cars would be on your list. 1962 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Season 2 Don Draper's Cadillac Coupe DeVille, all 500 feet of it, shows up in a few seasons of the show, but it's the first appearance that sets the tone. A Cadillac salesman, cut from the same cloth as Draper, asks what Don drives right now. "A Dodge," Don admits. "Those are wonderful if you want to get somewhere," allows the salesman, "this is for when you've already arrived." For a man on the move up corporate and social ladders that's a powerful message, and a pitch-perfect car. 1961 Lincoln Continental – Season 3 The most stylish Lincoln Continental ever is perfect set dressing for the mod show, of course. Though it's interesting that the car isn't cast as dapper Draper's ride, but rather his father-in-law's. Grandpa Gene does what all great grandfathers are bound to: lets his granddaughter Sally drive the big Lincoln while he works the pedals. Generational bond secured, in fine fashion. When you go back through the first three seasons of the show, you'll notice that Continentals show up more than once, too. There's nothing quite like them to evoke the best of the early '60s. 1963 John Deere 110 – Season 3 The only non-standard passenger vehicle on the list, no self-respecting gearhead/Mad Men fan should quibble with the inclusion of the John Deere 110 riding mower. For starters, the Deere is lovely to look at; a miniature version of the American Heartland icon in its green and yellow duds. The 110 appears as if milled from a solid block of steel, just the opposite of today's sleek, plasticky lawn minders (we're scouring Craigslist for one to bring home). The John Deere also has dear ramifications to the plot, too.