1973 Cadillac Eldorado Base Convertible 2-door 8.2l on 2040-cars

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What will the next Presidential limo look like?

With recent news that the Secret Service has begun soliciting proposals for a new armored limousine, we've been wondering what the next presidential limo might look like. The current machine, nicknamed "The Beast", has a design based on a car that's no longer sold: the Cadillac DTS. If General Motors gets the job again, which wouldn't be a surprise considering the government still owns a chunk of the company, the next limo's shape would likely resemble the new XTS (below, left). But Cadillac hasn't always been the go-to car company for presidential whips.
Lincoln has actually provided far more presidential limousines throughout history than Cadillac. In fact, the first car modified for Commander-in-Chief-carrying duty was a 1939 Lincoln K-Series called "Sunshine Special" used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the last Lincoln used by a president was a 1989 Town Car ordered for George H.W. Bush. If President Obama wanted a Lincoln today, it would likely be an amalgam of the MKS sedan and MKT crossover, as illustrated above.
And what about Chrysler? The only record we could find of a President favoring the Pentastar is Nixon, who reportedly ordered two limos from the company during his administration in the '70s, and then another one, known today as the "K-Car limo," in the '80s after he left office. Obama, however, has a personal - if modest - connection to Chryslers, having owned a 300 himself before he took office. A 300-based Beast (above, right) would certainly earn the U.S. some style points.

Cadillac ATS sedan is in its last year

Cadillac has just confirmed that the ATS Sedan dies at the end of the 2018 model year. In an e-mail to CarBuzz, spokesman Donny Nordlicht wrote, "Production of the ATS Sedan is ending due to extensive plant upgrades, expansion and re-tooling to prepare for the next generation of Cadillac sedans." The admission confirms several months of deduction based on a document trail put together by The Truth About Cars. Last December, TTAC reported that General Motors didn't list a 2019 Cadillac ATS sedan on VIN documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Only the coupe remained, the presumption being that 2018 would be the last year for the sedan. That presumption was bolstered by industry sleuth Bozi Tatarevic's discovery this week that GM hasn't included the ATS sedan in the carmaker's fleet order guide. The death of the four-door ATS won't surprise anyone paying attention to statements from Cadillac or ATS sales figures. Brand then-president Johan de Nysschen strongly hinted last summer that three sedans would bite the dust come 2019, and one would be refreshed. We've seen the gussied-up CT6, so that put the XTS, CTS, and ATS in the funeral home. The XTS would die an unavenged death, while the CTS downsized into the properly midsized CT5 and targeted buyers in the $35,000 to $45,000 range, overlapping with $34,595 ATS sedan pricing by doing so. The ATS would go on hiatus, eventually resurrected as a compact luxury offering possibly called CT3 in coupe form and CT4 as a sedan sometime around 2020. As for the market situation, ATS sales are up 7.3 percent in the U.S. through the end of April this year compared to 2017. However, the ATS sold only 13,100 units in the U.S. in 2017, compared to 21,505 units in 2016 and a high of 38,319 in 2013, its first full year on sale. Assuming new Cadillac president Steve Carlisle stays the predicted course, GM might keep the ATS Coupe as a lure to sporty buyers in the segment until a possible CT5 coupe arrives. Otherwise, Nordlicht's e-mail said "Cadillac's future sedan portfolio will consist of three sedans, positioned in different segments and clearly differentiated by size and price." The 2019 ATS Coupe will stick with its three current engines, the 2.0-liter turbo with 272 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, the 3.6-liter V6 with 335 hp and 285 lb-ft, and the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 in the ATS-V with 464 hp and 445 lb-ft of torque.

Mystery Cadillac coupe concept revealed in patent drawings

We have been reminded once again that when Cadillac designs a coupe, it's usually spectacular. The reminder comes in the form of a patent drawing filing that was previously reported on by Jalopnik. In the filing are shots of the two-door from just about every angle, and there's not a bad one in the bunch. Unfortunately, there isn't really any other information about the car in the patent, so the car remains a mystery in that regard. Still, there's a fair amount to be gleaned from the images. It certainly looks sportier than most recent Cadillac concepts. It has a fastback roof and a short deck lid. The rear bumper has a diffuser design fitted to it. The rear fenders are very wide. It has large auxiliary grilles on each side of the center one, and the way the taillights are designed seem to hint at extractor vents. The overall proportions even look a bit like those of the Camaro, but possibly a little larger. The car also looks like it's probably a concept. The side mirror stalks are far too skinny to actually be production units. The big diffuser and center exhaust, plus those rear extractor vent designs seem a little much for a production model, too. The headlights are also a little on the small side. Being a concept (probably), we're a little worried. We really want to see this thing come to market, but Cadillac has a bad track record of showing beautiful concepts that never make it to production, even when they aren't particularly over-the-top. The Elmiraj and Ciel are two that come to mind. The former was a coupe, too, and was elegant and grounded. We never got a production version of either. We did see some styling inspiration from the Elmiraj on the ATS and CTS, but they never quite captured the concept's beauty. Then again, when Cadillac has managed to bring a recent concept to production, the results haven't great. The Converj concept became the ELR, and while the styling came through fine, it was hampered by an uninspiring powertrain and an excruciating price tag. But hey, Cadillac could always prove us wrong. And we would like them to. Related Video: Featured Gallery Cadillac Coupe Patent Drawings News Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeImage Credit: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Cadillac Coupe Concept Cars Luxury