Elvis painted his pink and purple. Betty White drove one named “Parakeet.” They’ve carried presidents, mobsters and almost everybody on their last ride. Rock and Roll would have neither rocked nor rolled without them. Some even paced Indy and raced LeMans. Now Cadillac, the 120-year-old brand that once meant the best of anything, hits its stride towards electrified and autonomous roadways.
On July 22, Cadillac unveiled the Celestiq show car — a bespoke electric luxury sedan that will be hand-built at GM’s Eero Saarinen-designed tech center in Warren, Michigan. It combines classic styling cues like a long hood and vertical lighting with a sleek hatchback over hockey stick taillamps that hint at fins.
“It’s still a concept but is a vehicle that showcases the pinnacle of what GM can bring to the EV market,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for Edmunds. “It serves as a halo vehicle and hopefully design cues will trickle down. I think it looks cool but is probably going to be polarizing. Having another EV is good.”
The glitzy Celestiq is expected to cost upwards of $200,000 when it hits the market circa 2025.
Owners will personalize colors and materials cosseting five high-definition LED displays, including the 55-inch dash screen. All four passengers individually tune opaqueness of sky above, while Ultra Cruise hands-off driving provides convenience unimaginable in 1902.
Setting the standard
It’s not the first time Cadillac automated electric, having introduced starters in 1912 to liberate hands from cranks. They came a decade after the 1903 Model A that was essentially a buckboard with a single-cylinder engine. By 1908, Cadillac formed a cornerstone of General Motors and won the Dewar Trophy for mechanical standardization.
Beginning a cylinder escalation that culminated in V-16-powered phaetons during the 1930s, Cadillac introduced its first V-8 on the 1915 Model 51 — grounding an arc to the 2023 Escalade-V’s 682 horsepower supercharged V-8 that reaches 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Its $148,195 sticker, adjusted for inflation, matches the legendary V-16's.
While competitors like Marmon and Duesenberg struggled financially to and through The Great Depression, Cadillac sheltered under General Motors to reshape a coachbuilt industry into a streamlined aesthetic demonstrated by the 1938 Sixty Special. Styled by Bill Mitchell, lowered proportions negated running boards, fully integrated the trunk, and still looked fresh when new inspiration struck.
As recounted by designer Frank Hershey: “One day the boss [Harley Earl] took us out to one of the airfields — this was about 1941 or ’42. I saw the P-38 and that gave me the idea to put its fin on the rear fenders.”
Twin booms from the P-38 fighter plane began as little bumps on the post-war 1948 models but rose roof-high by 1959 and continue as vestiges today. Cadillac’s pillars of lavish interiors, linear style, easy power, and serene ride were established.
None surpassed the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, owned by Elvis and Sinatra, that cost $13,074 ($133,415 today). It boasted a powerful V-8, brushed stainless roof, razor fins, and air suspension. In 1959, the Cadillac Cyclone concept’s radar collision avoidance system prefigured today’s automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise.
If the Cyclone anticipated Cadillac’s technology, the 1967 Eldorado foreshadowed understated style with straight lines, vertical lighting and formal windowline. It soon gained wingmen.
New style of Cadillac
Promotional videos for the 1987 Cadillac Allante roadster, penned by Pininfarina, proclaimed it “the new style of Cadillac.” That line equally described Bill Mitchell’s shear-bodied 1976 Seville that downsized his 1938 Sixty Special’s proportions and influenced GM vehicles into the 1990s. Betty White certainly loved her mint green one.
The Allante introduced minimized chrome, alloy wheels, and crest moved from hood to grille. It eventually debuted Cadillac’s 32-valve Northstar V-8, paced the 1993 Indy 500 and predicted the trimmer 1992 Seville/Eldorado, 1994 DeVille, and German-built 1997 Catera.
After the Chevy Cavalier-based Cimarron, Cadillac needed renewal. Severe downsizing in 1977 won acclaim, but the second round in 1985 met drivers still expecting barged luxury. They got it with the 1998 Escalade, a celebrity limo with plush cabins and go-anywhere capability. Five generations in, the Escalade still dominates its segment.
As this millennium began, Cadillac debuted its Eldorado-inspired “Art & Science” ethos on the rear-drive CTS and STS sedans, leading to today’s globe-challenging CT4 and CT5. Neither surpassed the chiseled Corvette-based 2004 XLR roadster.
Standard of the world
Going further, the 2004 CTS-V took the Corvette’s 400 horsepower V-8. It was bested by the second-gen CTS-V’s 556hp supercharged V-8, Magnetic Ride Control, and swagger-wagon with roof-high light razors. Both predicted the $92,000 2023 CT5 Blackwing’s 668 horsepower supercharged V-8 and 0-60 mph romp of 3.6 seconds.
Enjoy the party while it lasts.
“Cadillac is in transformation,” Caldwell said. “Prior efforts were not successful, but now with more SUVs and EVs, it feels more current than a ‘really fast sedan.’ Especially with GM’s battery technology, it’s on a better foot than in the past decade.”
Cadillac looks to strengthen its line of popular crossovers by completing a circuit begun with the 2014 ELR plug-in hybrid with the 2023 Lyriq — an all-electric crossover with a 312-mile range, ability to fast-charge 76 miles in 10 minutes, and up to 500 horsepower. Hands-off cruising, widescreen infotainment and styling shared with the Celestiq delight. Prices start at $62,990.
We’ll soon see a smaller electric crossover and Escalade EV, but those shall seem quaint alongside the InnerSpace concept — a fully autonomous two-passenger leather-lined lounge facing flatscreens instead of windscreens.
Impressive, but what will return Cadillac to, as it once claimed, “the Standard of the World”?
“People have to say they’re proud to drive a Cadillac,” Caldwell continued. “EVs are giving brands a chance to re-present themselves to the world. GM has a leg-up on the EV side of things. From a product line-up, Cadillac is on a better path. People still associate it with an older buyer, but perceptions are shifting. It takes time.”
It’s easy to imagine Elvis barreling Graceland’s gates in an Escalade-V or Frank Sinatra glamming up The Sands in a Celestiq. Betty White would look super cute driving a Lyriq. As Cadillac reaches for tomorrow, we’ll all catch that indelible hint of fin.
