GM releases three sneak-peek videos of upcoming Detroit vehicles

As the 2009 Detroit Auto Show draws near, General Motors continues to prepare for its new-model onslaught. The latest salvo of information on its coming range of 2010 model-year cars comes by way of a trio of 'sneak peek' videos detailing the Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox and Buick LaCrosse. Each of the videos features interviews with designers, creators and executives on the design and marketing direction of each vehicle. The interiors of all three cars are also detailed with close-up shots and sweeping pans. The theme of the SRX video boils down to a marriage of what Cadillac calls 'fashion and function'. 2010 Chevrolet Equinox crossover

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Report: Cadillac showing E-Flex coupe at Detroit

General Motors' presence at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show is going to be a busy place with the debuts of the 2010 Equinox, SRX and LaCrosse all taking place. Today word of yet another car due for reveal - this time a concept - has broken, and it's expected to be a Cadillac-branded coupe based on the Volt's plug-in hybrid-electric technology. Though the sources cited by BusinessWeek are quick to emphasize the car is just a concept car with no plans at present for production, hints at a small coupe to fight BMW's 1-series and similar cars have been dropping for several months. Cadillac CTS Coupe

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First specs for Barak Obama's Cadillac One

With president-elect Barak Obama soon to be sworn in as the nation's leader, a new presidential limousine was in call for and once again General Motors was assigned the task of building it. Nicknamed 'The Beast', the limo is based on a number of GM platforms and shares components with several different vehicles. Its exterior is styled around the Cadillac DTS but underneath the sheet-metal the vehicle is built on a medium-duty truck chassis. The limo has recently been seen testing in prototype form alongside several GMC Topkick pickups, and according to onlookers the wheels and tires on the limo are almost identical to those on the trucks – 19.5in Goodyear Regional RHS tires. The rest of the exterior includes parts from several Cadillac models, such as headlights from an Escalade, and the grille and taillights from an STS.

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More details on Splinter wooden supercar

The Splinter, a wooden car designed by a group of college students, has made the rounds to the recent International Woodworking Fair, where it met with acclaim, and now the project is nearing the final stages of development. It is being run by Joe Harmon Design and North Carolina State University, and has progressed to the stage where the car's hand-crafted body has been mated to the chassis. The group have also sourced a new engine – a twin-supercharged 32-valve Cadillac Northstar V8 developing upwards of 700hp (522kW). Splinter wooden supercar concept

 

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Cadillac SRX unveiled ahead of 2009 Detroit Auto Show

Sporty, luxurious crossovers, like the crossover niche in general, haven't had the success the industry might have hoped for. Nevertheless, there is a definite market for the vehicles, and Cadillac has just unveiled its latest contender for the driveways of those buyers. Cadillac gave us a sneak preview of the 2010 SRX at the 2008 Pebble Beach Show, and later in a video as it flung snow about, powersliding over a frozen lake. Designed to offer similar aggressive style and sporty handling to the award-winning CTS sedan but also with clear cues from the fuel-cell Provoq concept, the SRX crossover features the a pair of direct-injected V6 engines and the option of AWD. 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover

 

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2008 Cadillac STS V6 Review

History records an era when a Cadillac was a no-compromise choice for well-heeled individuals seeking perfection. I remember the original import-fighting Seville's refreshing blend of global proportions with acres of unabashed Cadillac style. What followed—neglect and shameless down market downplays-- left Cadillac oblivious to its former "Standard of the World" designation. So it's no surprise that the latest STS, nee Seville, doesn't deserve to wear the crested wreath.

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Take Two: Cadillac CTS Review

Ever sit around on a Sunday around noon with your buddies and say "I could go for some Domino's or Papa John's." You know that obviously neither of the two is up to Michelin guide standards, and in fact neither one of them is even real pizza. But damn man, they really hit the spot. Well that's the new Cadillac CTS. It's snazzy looking, it's fun to drive, it's got all the toppings you could ask for. It's just not a Cadillac.

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Cadillac CTS Review

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit… of Acura? Infiniti? BMW? The Cadillac brand's been sliding downmarket for so long it's hard to know whose tailpipes they're chasing. Back in '02, the CTS offered genuine hope that Caddy could recapture some long lost ground. Although the Sigma-platformed mid-sizer was too small for the brand's aging aficionados, it was a credible throw down to Japanese and German sports sedans. In a few short years, Caddy's competition caught up-- and left CTS sales in the dust. Now, a refreshed CTS returns to the fray. Is it good enough to put the deeply damaged Cadillac brand back in the running?

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Cadillac SRX Review

Car-based crossovers (CUV's) are America's SUV escape pod of choice. Domesticated SUV's from Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Ford and more have found favor, as have their upmarket homonyms. Although GM was late to the crossover party, the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook are (at least for the moment) highly competitive products. At the top end, Cadillac stands pat with its three-year-old SRX. For '07, Caddy's attempted to re-invigorate their CUV with a new interior.

 

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Cadillac XLR-V Review

A commentator named Peakay recently posed a pointed question: "Do you guys like anything?" While there are plenty of positive reviews hereabouts, I understand Peakey's frustration. When ttac.com publishes a rash of reviews describing nasty looking, badly built, dynamically dim-witted vehicles, the negativity eats away at this car lover's soul. Which made the prospect of reviewing the Cadillac XLR-V a daunting proposition. I really wanted to like this car.

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Cadillac DTS Review

As I closed the rear door of the top spec Cadillac DTS, I watched the side light above my head literally sputter and die. And there you have it: proof positive that the bean counters have been hard at work on The General's luxury brand. You want the lights to slowly fade up and down? Why? Anyway, we don't have that part. What else you do you need? Actually, despite the death by a thousand cost cuts, the DTS has almost enough upmarket mojo to make it. Only luxury carmaking isn't horseshoes or hand grenades. Almost doesn't count.

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Cadillac BLS Review

When I was growing up in South Africa, Cadillacs were gaudily chromed boats adorned with absurd fins. I thought they were stupid. I simply couldn't reconcile Caddy's grandiose luxury land yachts with the small, sensible cars of my youth. As my horizons widened, as I learned about art, décor and design; I eventually "got it." I understood why enthusiasts waxed nostalgic about the great Caddies of yore, even though we saw precious few models in my corner of The Dark Continent.

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Cadillac Escalade Review

The new Cadillac Escalade is a mission critical machine. It's one of the few remaining General Motors products whose sales don't depend on Mexican-sized kickbacks and/or a Day-Glo "Closing Down, Everything Must Go" sticker on the windshield. What's more, as a badge-engineered Chevrolet Tahoe, it's only slightly more expensive to build than a Chevrolet Tahoe. In other words, the 'Slade's is a cash cow on factory double dubs, trying to keep it real for GM's ten point six billion dollar man, Rabid Rick Wagoner; know what I mean? No? Let me spell it out for you: if the 'Slade ain't da bomb, it's a nail in the General's coffin. Well guess what? RIP. Clock those side vents. At the precise moment when Caddy's luxury SUV should swagger into town with unabashed American style, the 'Slade arrives with its main design cue "borrowed" from Land Rover's Range Rover Sport. While the cynical amongst you might assert that the Escalade's target market is no more likely to connect the two vehicles than smoke crack and drive (as if), the fact remains: the porthole plagiarism betrays a staggering lack of confidence and originality. Of course, badge engineering a Chevrolet Tahoe betrays a staggering lack of confidence and originality, but, um… where was I? Something about the enormous gap in the SUV's wheel arches making the 'Slade look like a punk ass bitch? No… that wasn't it. Or was it?

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Cadillac CTS-V Review

Pistonheads believe cars have personality, character and yes, soul. Putting the pedal to the metal in a Cadillac CTS-V, it's hard not to agree. The 5.7-liter powerplant bellows, the tires squirm and the V charges at the horizon with all the determination of an enraged bull heading for a matador's cape. Redline Caddy's 400-horse four-door and she'll give you everything she's got. And man, she's got a lot. The V rockets from zero to sixty in 4.7 seconds and completes the ¼ mile in 13.1. If the V was a bull, I'd want to be one very fast matador. Amazingly, the CTS-V is not all about brute force. Unlike its rip-snorting cousins-- the Dodge Viper, Chevrolet Corvette and Dodge SRT10-- the V is a seriously agile whip. As hard as it is to comprehend, the CTS-V, a Cadillac, could well be America's finest handling car. Yes folks, it's true: Detroit has finally produced a car to rival a BMW.

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Cadillac STS Review

I like Cadillac. Theirs is the perfect American success story: a failing luxury car company saved by hard work, clever engineering and gang bangers. By now, the brothers' mainline manufacturer is safe and the word is out: Cadillac is back, and it's bling. Even old white men in shiny shoes know that the Escalade is all that, the XLR is dope, the CTS is fly, and the SRX is SWASS (Some Wild Ass Silly Shit). So why-oh-why did Caddy brew up this four-wheeled Forty Dog? For some reason, they based the STS' design on the arrow-sharp CTS-- minus the sharp. While the STS' front and back ends retain a welcome measure of the CTS' aggression, the overall result looks like a fat mobster in a Brioni suit. The STS' sloping swage lines and ever-so-slightly bulging wheel arches can't disguise the fact that it's a slab-sided luxobarge from the old school, with all the blingosity of a Lincoln Town Car. Granted, that may have been the point: to build a luxury car conservative enough for Cadillac's traditional clientele, yet-- no wait, that's it; that's the whole story.

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2003 Cadillac Escalade Review

Driving in the US state of Rhode Island is like being in a Mad Max movie. All lanes are passing lanes. Road rage is a given. Serious accidents are everywhere. To say you take your life in your hands is misleading. In fact, you put your life in the hands of madmen, fools and incompetents; drivers who alternate between homicidal and suicidal tendencies. To avoid the endless threat to life and limb, skill is not enough. You need luck, bravery, caffeine and a Cadillac Escalade. Despite the Escalade's epic dimensions— six feet high and 16.5 feet long— its protection against the slings and bumpers of outrageous driving has nothing to do with the acres of sheet metal adorning its body-on-frame chassis. Like all SUV's, the Escalade is a truck. It's exempt from US automotive safety legislation, which mandates life-saving technology like passenger safety cells. Bottom line: when push comes to crash, you're at least as safe in a medium-sized German saloon. If not more. Lest we forget, the Escalade's high and mighty stance gives Caddy's big rig a genetic tendency to fall over when things go seriously sideways.

 

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