TTAC was invited to Cadillac’s CTS Coupe wine-and-dine event yesterday, held in that prime habitat of the modern Cadillac: the hood. OK, so it was a trendy club located in an LA slum… same diff. The CTS coupe took center stage with the new SRX, CTS wagon, CTS-V and Escalade filling out the lineup. Where were the ugly-stepsisters the DTS and STS? Not invited said a Cadiilac rep. Upon first (long distance) glance the CTS Coupe looks entertaining, but it’s only when you get up close that the true weight of this beast hits you: this is one BIG coupe. Which is funny, considering the CTS Sportwagon next to it looks remarkably small for a wagon. But there’s the rub, Caddy is trying to do everything possible with the CTS with the minimum of effort (read: cost). The proportions of the CTS belie it’s uselessness: the rear seats have the leg room and width to coddle two linebackers but sadly only enough headroom for an oompa-loompa. The art and science design team gave the CTS coupe the most defined rump of the Cadillac lineup, a dramatic chevron which culminates in a steeply triangular rear bumper and trunk lid. And yes folks that’s a trunk lid, not a useful hatchback as we might have preferred. All in all, this is one square jawed Caddy, in the mold of the classic personal luxury coupe.
Truthfully, I don’t think anyone who buys this car will give a second thought to rear seat headroom, or trunk space for that matter. They are buying style. You can’t have everything in a coupe, if you need more room in the rear seat, or the trunk, buy the sedan or wagon. These cars are all beautiful. Good on ya, Caddy.
Is the front clip shared with the sedan and wagon, or unique as it was with the concept?
Is the wheelbase the same, or shorter?
Either way, there’s a lot more cost in the unique rear end than there would have been if they’d simple removed the rear doors from the sedan.
“And yes folks that’s a trunk lid, not a useful hatchback as we might have preferred.”
There was no way this was ever going to be a hatchback. That would never sell in the luxury segment.
Practicality and luxury are mutually exclusive?
I’m gonna wait for the Biarritz edition.
the sad fact here is that some of these will show up on the street with faux convertible tops, gold trim and wire wheels, sigh.
Alex, great to see you’re blogging LA! Looking forward to much more upcoming.
Haven’t seen it in person, but I think it’s nifty neato. I just wish it had a dual turbo 3L for some low-end torque. Hope it makes it to Boston for the NE Auto show!
Kudos to Caddy for making a car that bears no resemblance to the competition and looks great. Like Ott says, most people buying luxury coupes don’t give a rip about the back seat or trunk. If I were in the market for a car like this–sadly, probably never will be–I’d definitely give it a test drive.
I think it looks better than the four door version, personally.
In my experience these higherend coupe buyers typically could not care less about backseat space. They do however care about trunks space. I ahve never seen or driven this car, so I cannot comment on the trunk space.
Nice! GM needs a V version, so that Lutz and crew can keep up their new tradition of stomping whatever Bimmer brings to the table around a racetrack. A next gen M6 stomping version of this thing would be sick.
Looks good to me
It would turn my head.