You're looking at the single most important car Cadillac will launch this decade. The new 2008 Cadillac CTS will prove once and for all whether GM's luxury division can truly deliver on the promise of its radical "Art & Science" styling revolution and run wheel to wheel with the likes of Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz. There's a lot at stake for GM with this car: prestige, credibility, and the corporation's reborn faith in the primacy of product. By definition, there's also a lot at stake for the American auto industry: "Hey, forget pickup trucks, guys. We can do this stuff, too."
With its edgy panels, wedgy stance, and bold light graphics, the new Cadillac CTS appears a straightforward design evolution of the current car. That's no bad thing: Although now in its final model year, the current Cadillac CTS is selling better than ever. But you only need to walk around the 2008, to run your hands over the surfaces, to eyeball the details to realize this is probably the most revolutionary Cadillac sedan in decades. And here's why: You can see GM has spent serious money on this thing.
The front fender is a case in point. If you look closely at where the fender meets the base of the A-pillar, you'll notice not only the die-cast metal (not plastic) chrome vent, but a near bas-relief effect around it that's as ordered and intricate as a Frank Lloyd Wright faade. "My head still has the dents in it from the clubbing I got from the manufacturing guys," laughs exterior designer John Manoogian. "They told me it would defy the laws of physics to try and stamp that thing."
But stamp it they did. Along with the rear quarter panel that includes a crisply chiseled notch wrapping around the leading edge of the C-pillar, doors with a gash like a thumb run though wet clay that starts near the bottom of the front fender and runs to a point above the rear-axle centerline, and an aluminum hood that features hypnotic combinations of positive and negatively curved surfaces, sharp creases, and soft transitions.
In terms of sheer manufacturing competence, the precise, complex execution of the sheetmetal rivals that of BMW. But it's more than just a panel engineer's masterclass: In the metal the new Cadillac CTS oozes a character and charisma the somewhat cold and clinical current model lacks. "The idea was to use a little more art and a little less science so the car didn't look so computer generated," says Manoogian of the new Cadillac CTS. "We wanted the car to look as if the surfaces were all developed by hand."
For 2008, the CTS takes previously optional features -- such as 17-inch wheels, a Bose eight-speaker surround sound system, Stabilitrak and tire pressure monitoring -- and makes them standard fare.
