1995 Cadillac Deville 4dr Sedan Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Ghostbusters' new Ecto-1 is an oddly uninspiring '82 Caddy

The Ghostbusters, or at least the movie franchise, will emerge from Hollywood's cobwebs this summer, but instead of the iconic 1959 Cadillac known as Ecto-1 that delighted big screen audiences in 1984, the new model may leave some scratching their heads. That's because this latest Ghostbusters draws its vehicular inspiration from a decidedly less interesting period in American automobile production: the 1980s. Starring alongside Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones is a 1982 Cadillac DeVille hearse. The studio dressed up this tired Caddy to look the part, but something's amiss. Instead of the flamboyant fins and shiny chrome, the '82 is decidedly pedestrian and uninteresting. Even in 1982, it was kind of a dull choice for luxury car buyers. There's a reason Murilee Martin deemed the '70s and '80s the "malaise era." Built a couple of years before the original, Academy Award-winning Ghostbusters hit cinemas, the '82 DeVille represents one of Cadillac's lowest points bar the Cimarron. Under its hood might be Cadilac's new-for-1982 HT 4100 V8 engine, which featured what the brand referred to as "digital" fuel injection. With 135 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque, the DeVille didn't win stoplight races back then. Oddly, the V6 engine that came standard in the '82 Sedan DeVille produced the same horsepower but delivered an extra 15 torques, which made it both faster and more fuel efficient than the V8. These were bad times for General Motors, clearly, but the gas engines paled in comparison to Cadillac's first diesel. The company's LF9 5.7-liter diesel V8 was optional on the DeVille and we pity the unlucky buyers who checked that box. Generally credited as the engine that made "diesel" a haunted word in Detroit for 30 years, the 350-cubic-inch unit might actually be fitting for the Ghostbusters. On the bright side, the '82 is new enough that it may have carried a box or two of Hi-C's stellar, Ghostbusters-inspired Ecto Cooler. Maybe the mortician took his kid to Kroger one time, you never know. Fitting in In the original 1984 Ghostbusters, the '59 Caddy was a forlorn and forgotten piece of machinery waiting for a new lease on life. Character Dr. Ray Stantz picks it up and admits in the film that it needs "some suspension work and shocks ...

2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport [w/video]

Bridging The Gap With Power And Poise
As you read these words, West Coast Editor Michael Harley is preparing to drive the brand-new 2014 Cadillac CTS along the gorgeous, sun-drenched roads of Southern California. And while I'll wait for Harley's full report before I put words in his mouth, I'm willing to bet he enjoys the hell out of Cadillac's new CTS. In fact, I'm sure of it.
I say this with confidence because, about a month ago, I spent the better part of a day flogging the new CTS Vsport around the 2.9-mile Milford Road Course - a challenging circuit laid out in the infield of an oval test track at GM's proving grounds in southeast Michigan. The MRC was built about a decade ago after Bob Lutz was lured out of retirement to work closely with GM's product development team, and thus, this circuit is known informally as the "Lutz Ring." The main objective of the MRC was to have an in-house facility for engineers to fine-tune vehicle dynamics, without having to constantly schlep cars over to Germany's infamous Nürburgring. (Of course, they still do.)

Canada opens probe into 250,000 GM pickups, SUVs over brake performance

Transport Canada, the auto safety regulator, has opened a probe into braking issues in nearly 250,000 General Motors full-size pickups and SUVs after U.S. officials launched a similar probe last year, the agency said on its website. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in November into 2.73 million U.S. 2014-2016 model year SUVs and pickups after receiving 487 reports of hard brake pedal effort accompanied by extended stopping distance that were attributed to deterioration of the engine-driven brake assist vacuum pump. Transport Canada's probe covers 249,700 2015 through 2017 model year vehicles including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon as well as 2014-2017 Chevrolet Silverado LD and GMC Sierra LD vehicles. The U.S. agency said it had reports of nine incidents of vehicles incurring damage as a result of colliding with another vehicle or fixed object at low speeds and reports of two injuries. NHTSA said if the pump fails to operate, the amount of brake power assist can be significantly reduced, extending vehicle stopping distance. The NHTSA sent GM an information request in a Feb. 7 letter. A GM spokesman said he had no update on the investigation. Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis