GM @ NAIAS '08: Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept

[!!!TED!!!]

GM @ NAIAS '08: Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept

Autoblog has live pictures and video of the reveal from earlier this morning!

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/14/detroit...is-better-than/

[Robert Hall]

Wow...I LOVE it...except for the door handles. So sleek.

Edited January 14, 2008 by moltar

[SuperSport623]

oh.....my...lord... i LOVE that roofline!

[SoCalCTS]

SOLD! When can I pick it up?

[ToniCipriani]

Get ready to have Sixty8 come in to complain that it has B-pillars...

I love this thing. Very nice competition for the CLK.

[NOS2006]

Get ready to have Sixty8 come in to complain that it has B-pillars...

I love this thing. Very nice competition for the CLK.

It's okay, we all know they settled for mediocrity, cutting corners, and not making a better product than anything on the market.

[hyperv6]

Job well done. If the production car is near this Cadillac has finally arrived as promised by Mr Lutz.

Edited January 14, 2008 by hyperv6

[ToniCipriani]

Just saw this:

It seems like there is no B-pillar on this one, but you can clearly see one in the pic of the side profile.

[z28luvr01]

From the Autoblog article:

Although based on the sedan, the CT Coupe shares only the instrument panel, console, headlamps, front fenders and grille with the production model. Unique elements include:

• Classic hardtop styling, with no B-pillar
• CTS production windshield laid at a faster angle to create a sleeker profile
• Crome, split seven-spoke wheel design; 20-inch front wheels and 21-inch rear wheels
• Sculpted lower front fascia with unique brake-cooling vents
• Slim-profile outside mirrors
• XLR-type hidden door handles with proximity remote opening
• Unique front fender vents
• Diamond-cut rear fascia with mesh lower grilles and center-outlet exhaust
• Taillamps with a subtle fin profile and are highlighted with LED lighting technology with light pipes
• Rear spoiler integrated into the center high-mounted stop lamp
• Sculpted roof-mounted antenna for OnStar, XM Satellite Radio, etc.

"The cliché is to say that there were no compromises in the design, but that is absolutely accurate in the case of the CT Coupe," said Manoogian. "Each line and angle of the bodywork was carefully honed, and the final design's proportions were judged by the eyes of the design team, not computer-generated math data."

Sorry, NOS. I know you were looking for some more raw, dirty, kinky sex with some Cadillac B-pillars as well.

Oh, and BTW, this is pure hotness.

[RJB]

Awesome all I can say is awesome!! Bring it out today and I will sell a kidney to buy it. GM keeps bringing hit after hit, they have to be on one of the biggest rolls right now. Toyota may gain the sales lead but it won't last...at all!!!! I'm sure Toyota is sweating right now, especially bringing out all these boring cars in which only people that eat bran muffins will drive.

[loki]

so when do we see the CTS-C-V with 600hp? hehe

Very nice!!!

[Chris_Doane]

If you think it looks good in the pics...you should see it in person.

Dear God it's hot.

[NOS2006]

From the Autoblog article:

Sorry, NOS. I know you were looking for some more raw, dirty, kinky sex with some Cadillac B-pillars as well.

Aww, I was lookin' for a threesome.. Guess I'll just wait for the wagon, maybe that'll cure my need.

[Dsuupr]

Beautiful, just beautiful.

[makfu]

DAMN YOU Bob Lutz. DAMN YOU! I am going to have to trade in my 08 for this.

If you were to reach into my head and pull out of my subconscious exactly what the perfect modern Cadillac (or any car) would look like, it would be this. Simply stunning beyond description.

[makfu]

Just saw this:

It seems like there is no B-pillar on this one, but you can clearly see one in the pic of the side profile.

That is a rendering / mockup. The picture above is a production ready vehicle (right down to the little GM badge). This is pure Lutz theater right here - he did this with the LHS back in 92 - put a production car he knows people will plotz over on the stand as a "concept".

[quick]

Easily the best looking Caddy ever. Toyota/Lex BMW and Mercedes should be sweating a bit more now. If GM keeps this up we may make a few more people proud to buy an American car.

[K.C.]

I think I just came in my pants! Love those taillamps wrapping onto the decklid. Wow!

[ToniCipriani]

That is a rendering / mockup. The picture above is a production ready vehicle (right down to the little GM badge). This is pure Lutz theater right here - he did this with the LHS back in 92 - put a production car he knows people will plotz over on the stand as a "concept".

Right... now I see what you mean. There's no brakes on that one. Look at the front disc. No caliper.

[regfootball]

If you think it looks good in the pics...you should see it in person.

Dear God it's hot.

Dear God, I can only imagine, I moistened the screen from only the pics.

Sonofabitch Caddy is on a roll!

[regfootball]

DAMN YOU Bob Lutz. DAMN YOU! I am going to have to trade in my 08 for this.

If you were to reach into my head and pull out of my subconscious exactly what the perfect modern Cadillac (or any car) would look like, it would be this. Simply stunning beyond description.

I am sure plenty of C/Gers will wait in line to buy your used one.....

[Robert Hall]

Get ready to have Sixty8 come in to complain that it has B-pillars...

I love this thing. Very nice competition for the CLK.

I wonder if he can be blocked from this thread...he'll ruin it with his insipid whining.

A production version of this would be great competition for the G37 and 3-series coupe, IMHO...

[siegen]

This is one of those cars that I had to look at for a while and from different angles to decide what I really thought about. The rear end isn't particularly flattering. The whole car seems to be yelling at me "look at how macho I am!".

I don't think the Cadillac design style fits a coupe like this very well. The basic body shape is good, but the more I look at it the less I like it. It would probably work well as a Chevy or Pontiac.

[tmp]

I only hope that the rear end of that can make it to production without being toned down- I'd even forgive it having b-pillars if they can manage that...

[Robert Hall]

This is one of those cars that I had to look at for a while and from different angles to decide what I really thought about. The rear end isn't particularly flattering. The whole car seems to be yelling at me "look at how macho I am!".

I don't think the Cadillac design style fits a coupe like this very well. The basic body shape is good, but the more I look at it the less I like it. It would probably work well as a Chevy or Pontiac.

Well, Cadillac could have played it safe with a more vertical rear window, a more formal roofline..but they went for the sleeker, more radical fastback with this..targeting the G37, I would say.. now what will be interesting is if the production version will be this radical..

[Drew Dowdell]

HO-LEE-@#$@

SMK, you can officially bite me now if you have something to say about this car. This thing completely out styles anything from Germany or Japan.

[NOS2006]

Notice the Cien inspiration in the rear? I just saw that.

I also think the rear could've looked even better had it had hips like the Corvette and Camaro.. That way the greenhouse would have gotten a little more narrow at the rear. That might be a good chop..

[AAS]

Notice the Cien inspiration in the rear? I just saw that.

I also think the rear could've looked even better had it had hips like the Corvette and Camaro.. That way the greenhouse would have gotten a little more narrow at the rear. That might be a good chop..

Agreed, the C-pillar area looks sort of plain in profile, but hips would help that out. Whether or not hips work with the creases and lines of A&S is another question...

[american_driver]

The C pillar is a little fat for my taste. It is a good looking car!

[Robert Hall]

Agreed, the C-pillar area looks sort of plain in profile, but hips would help that out. Whether or not hips work with the creases and lines of A&S is another question...

Maybe some sort of crease from the deckline into the C-pillar like the sedan has..not sure how that would work w/ the short deck, though.

[bowtie_dude]

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. And I'll never be able to afford one...

[turbo200]

immediate response would be I love it, it's beautiful.

i'm glad they used the V interior color scheme and I hope that sticks, I also hope those seats get that extra bit of differentiation with the materials insert and colors it appears to where over the stock CTS. I hope they choose to offer this with a sport package standard, big wheels standard, no craptacular base wheels like the sedan CTS. I hope they can know they that can charge more for this car, base price, like MB does with CLK, but don't get crazy like MB with the CLK. Starting around 36k bare bones, i.e. just heated seats no NAVI leather obviously, but no hard drive things like that, manual transmission, big wheels. Keeping the 20" and 21" rear wheels would be a GREAT option to have. But just don't dumb it down and you have a bonafind hit.

That was my immediate response. My next response would be, I don't know if this or the BRX are my ideals of what a Caddy should be design wise. that said, this car at least is stunning

[RichW5]

This is one of those cars that I had to look at for a while and from different angles to decide what I really thought about. The rear end isn't particularly flattering. The whole car seems to be yelling at me "look at how macho I am!".

I don't think the Cadillac design style fits a coupe like this very well. The basic body shape is good, but the more I look at it the less I like it. It would probably work well as a Chevy or Pontiac.

I would be disappointed if this poster had written something "good" about the CTS Coupe. A Troll is a Troll, is a Troll...........

[RJB]

The only thing that bugs me is that the Provoq and the CTS coupe share the same wheels?!! What gives, couldn't they have chosen two different wheels to separate these models a little more?

[makfu]

Right... now I see what you mean. There's no brakes on that one. Look at the front disc. No caliper.

Wrong way around . The one in the very first post is the real car (with the B pillar). It does have calipers - they are gray - the front ones are at the bottom of the rotor (you have to look very closely) and the rears are mounted at the left top of the rotor. The mockup/concept has yellow calipers mounted differently and they cut out the B pillars.

[siegen]

I would be disappointed if this poster had written something "good" about the CTS Coupe. A Troll is a Troll, is a Troll...........

I don't think anyone likes being called a troll. Call me a devil's advocate if you will. If you want to know what a troll is, it's someone who responds to a post with personal attacks rather than rebutting the statement given in the original post.

[RichW5]

In my personal opinion, it's strikingly beautiful. Another winner for Cadillac.

I'm sure some changes will be made to the production models, but I'd buy it today if I had the cash.

CR will hate it (no rear visibility, no B-pillars to hold up the roof in rollovers and it's not made by the Japanese).

Car & Driver will hate it (it's not made by BMW).

Top Gear will hate it (it's not British, but what is?).

WPBHarry will hate it (cause that's what he does).

The real car does not have a B-pillar. Check out the auto show pictures with Ed Welburn.

[AAS]

...

The real CONCEPT car does not have a B-pillar. Check out the auto show pictures with Ed Welburn.

Fixed... let's make that clear from the beginning, so we don't have a relapse of the Camaro incident.

[ToniCipriani]

I would be disappointed if this poster had written something "good" about the CTS Coupe. A Troll is a Troll, is a Troll...........

Siegen actually is already one of the more "sensible" ones who post on here and is a non-GM fan. Try this with toyoguy...

[prinzSD]

I think the thing is hot. The thing that bothers me, is I recently read because of the new CAFE standards that V-8s will be relegated to exotics and in particular that by 2010 the entire Cadillac line up will exclude ANY V8s and rely only on high feature V6s. Can anyone in the know (our wonderful moles within Cheers and Gears) give us a little info on whether this is true? A Cadillac without a V8 seems ridiculous?

I wonder how BMW, Mercedes and even Ferrari will deal with these new CAFE ratings. I hate politicians when they ram stupid legislation down our collective throat.

[ToniCipriani]

I think the thing is hot. The thing that bothers me, is I recently read because of the new CAFE standards that V-8s will be relegated to exotics and in particular that by 2010 the entire Cadillac line up will exclude ANY V8s and rely only on high feature V6s. Can anyone in the know (our wonderful moles within Cheers and Gears) give us a little info on whether this is true? A Cadillac without a V8 seems ridiculous?

I wonder how BMW, Mercedes and even Ferrari will deal with these new CAFE ratings. I hate politicians when they ram stupid legislation down our collective throat.

Ferrari's known to get exceptions. They are exempted from even airbags, IIRC.

[makfu]

Fixed... let's make that clear from the beginning, so we don't have a relapse of the Camaro incident.

The concept doesn't have the b-pillar, but (and Lutz has a history of doing this) the concept is just a (very) mildly disguised version of the production car. They cut out the b-pillar, put fancy calipers and tires on, probably did a little sprucing up of the interior and called it a day. The on-road car features in the press photos is almost certainly the production vehicle. It has (what looks like) production spec calipers, it DOES have a b-pillar and a higher ride-height. It also has the silly little GM badge.

This is a real car and is in fact the car that Bob had under the tarp during the 60-minutes "sneak peak" from a year or so ago (go back and look at it).

[Robert Hall]

I think the thing is hot. The thing that bothers me, is I recently read because of the new CAFE standards that V-8s will be relegated to exotics and in particular that by 2010 the entire Cadillac line up will exclude ANY V8s and rely only on high feature V6s. Can anyone in the know (our wonderful moles within Cheers and Gears) give us a little info on whether this is true? A Cadillac without a V8 seems ridiculous?

I wonder how BMW, Mercedes and even Ferrari will deal with these new CAFE ratings. I hate politicians when they ram stupid legislation down our collective throat.

Without hijacking this thread off on another tangent addressed elsewhere, I don't think BMW & MB have anything to worry about..they have diesels.

[prinzSD]

Without hijacking this thread off on another tangent addressed elsewhere, I don't think BMW & MB have anything to worry about..they have diesels.

I see, but I wonder if we will see a V series with a V8 with this coupe. i just can't imagine a Cadillac witthout a V8. I better start getting used to modern realities. I can see this car as my next purchase, or a G8 or a Vette.

[hyperv6]

I would expect no B pillar here as keeping the sticker price down will not be a problem on this car as it is more expensive to start vs the Camaro where it had to compete with the Mustang.

The V6 engines now are over 300 HP and we have not even see what more they can and will do to them. I know GM has a NA 3.6 at 320 HP in the wings and I am sure they are also working on Turbo's. We will have a V6 well into the 400 HP range before it is said and done.

As for the number of cylinders it is just in your mind as the power output is key not the number of cylinders.

[turbo200]

I would expect no B pillar here as keeping the sticker price down will not be a problem on this car as it is more expensive to start vs the Camaro where it had to compete with the Mustang.

The V6 engines now are over 300 HP and we have not even see what more they can and will do to them. I know GM has a NA 3.6 at 320 HP in the wings and I am sure they are also working on Turbo's. We will have a V6 well into the 400 HP range before it is said and done.

As for the number of cylinders it is just in your mind as the power output is key not the number of cylinders.

the high powered V6s will also be lighter in weight and will help keep weight down overall on the cars. I do trust they have great V6 engines perhaps above 420 hp capabilites. They will need to have a V8, and I am sure they may use the DOHC Gen V of the smallblock instead of no V8 at all.

[ZL-1]

I know GM has a NA 3.6 at 320 HP in the wings

That'd be nice to see, but the Northstar would have to die first.

Re the Coupe, it looks a little hatchback-like in profile, but I like the car! The rear end reminds me of last-gen-Eldorado-meets-Cien. I am expecting the rear end to be toned down (i.e., made less angular), but I'm hoping it won't.

Edited January 14, 2008 by ZL-1

[Camino LS6]

Hmmm.

Looks really nice in profile. The nose and tail don't please me as much.

Interiorwise, the yellow looks like hell and ruins the rest of it for me.

[pow]

My initial impressions of it weren't too positive. It seemed a bit too hatchbacky, and I didn't like how fat the rear 3/4s were (350Z-esque). But the more I look at it now, the more I "get" it. From the side, it reminds me of a Lamborghini Murcielago, and that's a good thing.

[pow]

Hm, the more productionized version, with the side chrome window surround, looks better, IMO. I'm not crazy about those wheels, however, as they remind me of the Riviera concept.