Drop Top Customs, a Florida-based company that brought other convertible models at last year's SEMA Show, is now getting ready to chop the roof off the freshly revealed Cadillac CTS Coupe. The soft top Cadillac will be revealed for the first time at this year's edition of the gathering, which runs from November 2 to 5 at the Las Vegas convention center.
Cadillac's upcoming Alpha-platform mid-size/compact sedan will be named Cadillac ATS, according to new reports breaking today. The new Cadillac has long been speculated to wear the ATS badge, but to date General Motors has kept mum on the topic.
We already know a fair bit about the upcoming Cadillac ATS, which will share its Alpha platform with the next-gen Camaro. The Cadillac ATS sedan will come in 2012, and could also spawn a wagon and a convertible version. Its size and styling will put it up against the Lexus IS and Infiniti G range, along with BMW's 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz's C-Class.
You may think the Cadillac CTS already fits that bill, but in reality, the C-Class is a 5-Series/E-Class-sized car, despite being competitive on price with the next set down. An upcoming DTS replacement in the form of the XTS, also due in 2012, will offer a larger car to compete with the 7-Series, S-Class and Lexus' LS line, putting the CTS into better perspective.
Beyond that, however, details on the Alpha range are scarce--powertrains options could include a choice of turbocharged four or six-cylinder engines, as well as any number of naturally-aspirated mills. The transmission will almost certainly be a six-speed auto, though a six-speed manual offering is also possible.
The Coupe deVille was introduced by Cadillac late in the 1949 model year. Part of the Cadillac Series 62 line, it was a closed, two-door coupé, Cadillac's first pillarless hardtop. Intended as a prestige model, at $3,497 it was one of the most expensive models of the Series 62 line. It was luxuriously trimmed, with leather upholstery and chrome 'bows' in the headliner to simulate the ribs of a convertible top. The first-year Coupe deVille sold 2,150 units, but 1950 sales were more than double, and 1951 more than doubled those of the previous year. By 1961 it was one of the company's most popular models, with annual sales above 20,000.
In 1956 the Coupe deVille was joined by the Sedan deVille, a four-door hardtop sedan. The Sedan deVille would ultimately outlive its two-door predecessor. In 1959 the DeVille line was separated in a distinct Series 63.
The Coupe deVille, like other Cadillacs, grew substantially larger and more powerful from 1949 through the early 1970s. By 1973 it was 4 in. (101.6 mm) longer in wheelbase, 17 inches (431.8 mm) longer overall, and more than 900 lb (408 kg) heavier, and its standard V8 engine had grown from 331 in³ (5.4 L) to 472 in³ (7.7 L).
