Cadillac's 70th Anniversary, 1972 Cadillac Coupe De Ville on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2020 Cadillac CT4-V First Drive + Video | The Cadillac of compact Cadillacs

With the launch of the 2020 Cadillac CT4, GM is pushing back into the smallest luxury sedan segment that in recent years has almost exclusively featured entries from Germany. We're pleased to see it return, and importantly, that it definitely came back prepared. The CT4’s key differentiator is its platform. Unlike the bulk of entry-level luxury sedans currently on the market, the Cadillac rides on a rear-wheel-drive platform. All-wheel drive is available throughout the lineup for those who need (or just want) four-season flexibility, but itÂ’s meant to be a convenience feature rather than a performance upgrade — the same is not true of its front-wheel-drive competitors. The CT4 ostensibly replaces the discontinued ATS, but reality is a bit murkier than that. Stop us if youÂ’ve heard this before, but the Cadillac CT4 is not entirely size-appropriate for the class. While the CT4 is aimed at the subcompact luxury sedan segment (and the CT5 at the compact), itÂ’s dimensionally a bit closer to the likes of the Mercedes C-Class than it is the A-Class. This gives Caddy a bit of an advantage, but itÂ’s nothing we havenÂ’t seen from GMÂ’s luxury arm before. Cadillac has chosen instead to target the segment based on price, which is a win for consumers in a way, as you can get a little bit more bang for your buck if theyÂ’re willing to take a chance on the underdog. Cadillac is offering its new small sedan in three states of tune. The base (“Luxury”) model boasts a 2.0-liter engine good for 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The Premium Luxury and CT4-V models get the 2.7-liter — which is still a four-cylinder — that makes 310 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque in its base tune and 325 hp and 380 lb-ft in the CT4-V. All three variants make use of GMÂ’s active fuel management tech which allows them to run on just two cylinders to conserve fuel while cruising. Yes, you read that correctly. The CT4-V boasts just 325 hp, which may seem like a pittance considering the outrageously powerful V models of CadillacÂ’s past, but GMÂ’s luxury arm has decided to re-jigger its performance hierarchy by eliminating “V-Sport” entirely, shifting “V” down to fill that role, and introducing a series of new range-topping performance models dubbed “Blackwing.” In that context, the CT4-V may seem like an also-ran, but consider the company it keeps.

Meet the next president's new Beast, a giant bomb-proof limo

We don't know who will be our president in 2017, but now we have a better idea of how that person will be transported on land. The next presidential limo, officially referred to as the presidential state car, will be another Cadillac. And a big one. You're looking at a lone spy photo of a car that will be of high interest to actual spies – not to mention Secret Service agents and lots of law-enforcement types. President Obama has been riding around in a Cadillac nicknamed The Beast for a while now. (It recently made an appearance on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.) Over the Secret Service radios, it goes by Cadillac One and Limo One. While the current car looks like a stretched Cadillac DTS sedan, it's actually kind of huge and built on a Chevrolet Kodiak medium-duty truck chassis. The same is likely to be true again, but this one will look a lot more like the latest Cadillac models. Through the camo we can see a front end reminiscent of the new CT6 large sedan. Imagine one of those scaled to about 5/3 of the production car and you've got the right idea. Fun fact: It will be the first presidential limo to feature Caddy's new wreathless crest logo on its grille. View 6 Photos As for features, we're in the dark and will remain so even after the new president-mover goes into service. The details are a legitimate matter of national security, but you can bet it's bulletproof, can withstand small bombs, and has some kind of onboard secondary air supply in case of a chemical or biomedical warfare attack. Oh, and it has that big red phone in back in the event things get really bad. The new one will no doubt carry the latest communications and safety technology. The new presidential limousine has been in the works for some time. The government sent out a request for proposals in 2013, and this model is expected to go into service sometime in 2017. Chances are it will make its debut at the inauguration of [INSERT CONTROVERSIAL NAME HERE] in about a year's time. Related Video:

Reservations for Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing models to open in February

Cadillac will unveil its high-performance CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing sedans on Feb. 1 and will accept reservations for the cars the same day. Only 250 examples of each car will be built for 2022, and immediately after the reveal, customers can secure one of these Caddies with a $1,000 deposit, which is refundable. Deliveries are set to begin in mid-summer. As a special enticement, those first 250 cars will get a numbered plaque on the steering wheel, which indicates the model, transmission, and build sequence. Note that the plaque comes only on cars equipped with the high-performance steering wheel, which based on the teaser image below appears to have carbon fiber accents. It's standard on the CT5-V Blackwing and included on mid-level and higher versions of the CT4-V Blackwing. We already know that the CT5-V Blackwing will be available with carbon fiber seatbacks. More exciting news is that Cadillac will buck the prevailing trend and offer a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment in both cars. A 10-speed automatic also will be available. It's not yet known what engine will power the sedans, although it's not expected to be the eponymous 550-hp Blackwing V8 that had an abbreviated run in the just-discontinued CT6-V. Cadillac has also announced that Blackwing buyers can avail themselves of a 2-day high-performance driving school experience at Cadillac's V-Series Academy at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. They're on their own as far as getting there, however. The unveiling of the two new Blackwings on Feb. 1 will take place at the brand's main website as well as its Twitter page. Related Video: