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[UPDATE] Cadillac Blackwing gets ticket to Italy, to go to work in a supercar

UPDATE: It seems MAT's belief it had secured a supply of Cadillac's 4.2-liter Blackwing V8 was premature, and based on a handshake deal before GM sold its Turin engine center to Italy's Punch Group. Shortly after Hagerty ran the story, GM sent a statement to the outlet reading, in part, "We do not have an agreement in place with Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT) to provide or sell the Blackwing engine. ... Our team is following up with MAT president Paolo Garella to discuss the misunderstanding." MAT also submitted a statement to Hagerty, saying, in part, "We thank GM for the clarification. Although a signed agreement was not finalized between the parties, we were under the impression that our counterpart was committing to making this engine available to MAT at conditions yet to be defined. ... We hope that this misunderstanding will not compromise our relations with GM and possible future collaborations." The original article follows: Some necessary cost-cutting at Cadillac led to switching the new CT4, CT5, and Escalade to older platforms. The revised architecture plan meant Cadillac's newest top-tier products couldn't fit Cadillac's newest top-tier engine, the 4.2-liter twin-turbo DOHC V8 known as Blackwing. That engine would serve limited duty at full power in the now-dead CT6-V, and at reduced output in the CT6 Platinum V8 trim before ending its bright, brief domestic life. But the story isn't over, the rebirth of Blackwing coming from a most surprising locale: Turin, Italy. Before the canceled Geneva Motor Show, Hagerty spoke to Paolo Garella, CEO of Manifattura Automobili Torino; that's the company better known as MAT, makers of the New Stratos and contract engineering house for boutique screamers like the Aspark Owl electric hypercar, Apollo Intensa Emozione, and SCG003C. Garella told the outlet, "We have an agreement with General Motors" for a supply of Blackwings, which would be developed and built at the General Motors Propulsion Engineering Center (PEC) in Turin. Since 2005, the PEC has been used to develop GM's global diesel engines and electronics. MAT's plan is to put the V8 into a new limited-run car MAT is creating from its own design. Then another surprising turn: Belgium-based global auto supplier Punch Group bought the PEC, with plans to work with GM on projects in progress until at least the end of 2021. Nothing changes as far as MAT is concerned, except perhaps a chance for an even closer collaboration with Punch Turin.

You want screens? The 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment system gives you screens

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade’s infotainment system shocked and awed when it debuted, but now weÂ’ve finally had a chance to live with both it and the giant SUV that surrounds it for a week. Sliding behind the triple OLED screens is like stepping into the tech-forward future Cadillac promised us. The 6.2-liter push-rod V8 under the hood says otherwise, but the interior technology has already arrived. There are three screens in total: a 16.9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, a 14.2-inch instrument cluster and a 7.2-inch touchscreen to the left of the cluster. All three are OLED displays, and just as you might expect, they are gorgeous to take in. None of the high-tech German luxury vehicles have screens this pretty. The Escalade's donÂ’t just look great, though. All three screens are quick to react and pop through functions/menus without a hitch. The only slop or delay in the whole system is when you go to turn the cluster's augmented reality (AR) camera on  — you wait one potato, two potato, and then the feed pops up. ItÂ’s a new take on GMÂ’s infotainment system as a whole. YouÂ’ll still be swiping side-to-side through an iPad-esque display of apps, but the UI is totally rethought and appears fresh. Icons are big and easy to press. Nothing is hidden off-screen at any point. It just makes good sense. 2021 Cadillac Escalade infotainment View 17 Photos Cadillac has found a way to better utilize its redundant scroll wheel, too. Though it's the same wheel as is on other models, this time the whole display changes to match the wheelÂ’s action when you use it. For example, the home screen turns into a revolving circle of apps that you twist through as soon as you twist the dial. It may take some getting used to, but the option between two different interfaces that both function well is a positive. Redundant combos of touchscreen and control wheel are common, but no one offers something like this.  Keeping a few physical buttons and an actual volume knob around to control the infotainment system is another thoughtful touch — same goes for the climate controls, which entirely consist of physical buttons. Despite the central instrument panel screenÂ’s prodigious size, you wonÂ’t actually find a whole lot buried in there. All of the trip settings and general car settings have been moved into the infotainment system itself.

Cadillac ATS was almost front-wheel drive

"We were going to do a front-wheel drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, General Motors' vice president of global product programs, told the Automotive News during the Detroit Auto Show in January of this year. That sentence, referring to early ATS discussions more than five years ago - a period when the automaker, and the industry, was struggling - reveals that Cadillac's highly acclaimed rear-wheel drive compact sedan almost never happened.
Parks revealed that that automaker actually built a 2.0-liter test mule, on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Verano) and tested it in Europe. While the prototype was "pretty darn good," according to Parks, the team realized that in order to compete against Mercedes-Benz and BMW it would have to invest in a new rear-wheel drive platform.
The resulting all-new Alpha platform would eventually underpin the Cadillac ATS, and many would argue that its balanced rear-wheel drive chassis is its single most important attribute. Thankfully, the Alpha's goodness won't stop with the ATS. The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS and the future Camaro will also share its architecture, meaning the Cimarron will remain a distant memory.