Here’s how the CTS started the biggest turnaround in Cadillac’s history
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- Опубликовано: 13 янв 2023
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In this episode I provide the history of the Cadillac CTS, which launched in 2002 for the 2003 model year. The CTS replaced the poor selling Catera, and introduced a daring angular styling that was entirely different than any other Cadillac had been. The CTS was the first to introduce this new design that Cadillac had been planning to replicate across all of their models over the next few years, so if the CTS had failed, it could have been the death of Cadillac, but instead the CTS brought in many younger buyers. Although Cadillac still has many older buyers today, cars like the CT5 that replaced the CTS in 2020 are helping to keep Cadillac's average age lower than it was in the 90s and before.
Always thought the CTS, with all of it's sharp lines and deep creases, delivered us the most "futuristic" mass produced vehicle since the Ford Taurus.
And never thought the more futuristic Taurus ended up as the catfish. Both cts and Lincoln LS were killing it at the time.
@ Paulw Did you look into citroen s 2nd brand DS? They have the edged look outide and zirkonia buttons, what Liberace call that? Palacial kitsch..interior and dashboard. While being a C4, inside. Or Peugeot 309.
CTS comes to mind when I think 2000s car design.
@@seanguy9720 Agrees, that and the Galant
What ford taurus was futuristic?
The 1st gen CTS still looks pretty modern today. As a kid, i loved driving it in Need for Speed Most Wanted.
idk I feel like more so the modern ones are outdated.
Same here! I loved the CTS in Need for Speed!
They've aged very well.
I had every video game which had the CTS on it 😂
@@silversonic99 they've aged well you haven't
This and the Escalade subsequently saved Cadillac and kept it in relevance
XLR was a stunning looking car.
I agree. Enjoyed racing it in Midnight Club
Definitely. Really too bad that the Northstar engines are notoriously unreliable and the interior was made of cheaper plastic than Happy Meal toys. Seriously, the interior of a mid range '96 Volvo has more premium materials.
@@CheapBastard1988 Agreed.
@@CheapBastard1988 Gm refuses to spend time and development on interiors.
I was a porter in the mid 2000s at a GMC Pontiac Cadillac dealer. These where great looking and driving cars. I was like 19 and the CTS V was and IS a badass car.
I remember the first time I saw a TV commercial for the CTS. As surprising as the new look and focus on driving enjoyment was the fact it used Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll" as the soundtrack. Talk about a "shift in the gearbox" for Caddy! Although the irony of introducing a brand new Cadillac with a song from 1971 wasn't lost on me 🎸
Ed Welburn deserves a bunch of credit for the art and science design language.
The Cadillac CTS was always a great looking car.
I Agree 👍
CT5 is the current generation model. Which is a pretty solid car. One of the few GM products I'd buy brand new.
Nope it’s the CT5 the CT4 is the ATS
Ok GM hater.
They are boring enough
A good friend of mine has a 2004....MANUAL!!! and it's still going strong after 200k + miles.
Is it the 3.2 liter? Because i got an 03
“…still being considered for future episodes.”
Be honest. You’re gonna do them all and I’m gonna watch them.
I always found it funny that Cadillac used to market the CTS as a compact Sports sedan despite being longer than their midsize Chevy Malibu.
The 2nd Gen CTS coupe is one of the prettiest car designs I've ever seen! Even the wagon was stylish! 😃
I JUST found out ( like a yr ago ) that
" _CTS_ " stands for
" _Catera Touring Sedan_ "
The CT5 which is the successor of the CTS is kinda of a wordplay
I still remember that Cadillac CTS-V superbowl commercial. When the car was reversed in the tunnel and shot out like a bullet. Bang!! .. I will never forget that. I wanted one! 🤩
Now I understand why this car is present in so many racing games it's because of the branding that CTS wants to carry, a fun to drive compact luxury car.
Making me miss mine, had an 04 sport premium pack with borlas and a glass pack. Such a fun car 🥹
Dumb people got rid of them because they sucked as a mechanic. 😂
Cadillacs failure with the CTS was that they were trying to compete with European's but forgot they were an American brand(price wise)
We need a video on the Hyundai Tiburon.
Looking forward to a Mazda 929 video! Or Mitsubishi Sigma/Diamante.
Great video. I use to work for a Cadillac dealer and we were blow away by the power of the CTS!
I had a 2006 cts and as long you change the oil it's was a pretty good car, now I had a 2008 cadillac cts4
I was working for a GM dealer early 2000's and wow , I liked the CTS when i saw it . Nice look and very edgy especially for cadilliac..
Whenever you do decide to make another cadillac series then you'll should make a combine video. DTS/Deville and STS/Seville or however.
It hasn't been an easy decade or two for GM. But the Escalade and CTS deserve credit for redefining Cadillac for an entire generation. And burying the ghosts of its vinyl-roofed and wire-wheel covered past.
I’d love to see an episode on the 8th generation Riviera
The CTS made the Cadillac image cool. And also Cadillac went into racing and they still are racing today making look cool compare to Buick and Lincoln which I see them as retired people cars.
Weird that the catera failed in the US, in australia we had the VT commodore which was based on the catera but with an adapted body to suit aussie markets and different engines, that was the best selling aussie car ever. I wonder why it sold poorly in the US
Honestly, it probably was the ads that ruined it. Even the Cadillac logo had little ducks in it, which pushed away older buyers. And I guess some younger folks couldn't be seen in a car that was advertised "for children" because of their ego.
The CTS got a really awesome add campaign.
GM should have spent some of that money on styling instead of taking a dozen ax swings at a block of wood and calling it a day
Thanks, Pat, for the history of the CTS. Another great video.
Any caddy from the 40s through the 70s is awesome!
Cadillac is really killing it with everything except maybe build quality
I have a 2014 CTS and a 2005 Deville... Love Cadillac!!
The cadillac Evoq looked so cool 😭 even today it would still look up to date
Please Do a video on the Ford Explorer sport trac pickup
Those are dope. The Ford Explorer Sport is also cool.
This car was iconic. Along with Infiniti G35. When both came out, they where game changers.
c300 ?
🙋🏻♂️I worked at a Cadillac dealer in early 2000s we called CTS “Catera Twin Sister” 🤣🤣
The styling was a home run, I always loved angular lines over the more rounded "egg shapes" that started in the 90's. I will say though, the grill just never looked right. It looked like it was made by Rubbermaid.
I thought about buying a CTS, but I just never trusted GM quality.
Working as a product specialist at Cadillac with all of their recent home runs must be a nice job
When I saw a catera in the junk yard a few years ago I never knew they were rear wheel drive, or at least a longitudinal mounted motor
Break Through With The CTS.
Been driving a '15 model for the last months as daily driver, quite a good car, comes better equipped then most 5 series or E classes.
I love the Caddy episodes. I know there are many cars to choose from, but an SRX episode would be amazing. The first gens look like a hearse 😅
Some are still on the road today, I saw one at a dealer with 30k miles on it!! It was from 2010 it was so clean Inside and out.
Thanks for another great video. 😀👍
Great video!
loved the video.. Great history for the Caddy. :)
I got a CTS 4 coupe a few months ago, legendary car, seriously
Great video! However I would like to point out the Camaro shown is a 5th Gen, which were on the Zeta platform 👍
I had a cts 2006 3.5 awesome car ...265 hp v6 was pretty quick loved that car
I have a CTS VSport and I absolutely love it. I hope Cadillac can continue to provide cars like this. If they do, I'm in.
Perhaps the gasoline blend called V-Power launched by SHELL around 2004 (replacing the previous Shell Premium formula) was developed with Cadillac V-Series engines in mind (V-Power, V-Series, very similar names!) because there definitely WAS a partnership between GM and Shell at one point in the 2000s?
Great video on the CTS. Have you did a video on the 94-96 Chevy Impala SS or the Buick Roadmaster?
Hell yes
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
CTS-V Wagon still hold the record out of all CTS-v's at Neuenburg ring. And even the ATS-V cannot beat it.
At first I wasn't really sure I liked Cadillacs love them or leave them huge headlights, they have long since grown on me
The XLR is a bit of a dream car for me. Would love to own one someday.
You've shoulda added the Cadillac ad where the CTS was challenging the usual suspects in its field to a duel on a ballroom.
OK, I screwed up, the two ballroom ads, "Let's Dance," and "Party's Over," were ads for the STS.
Gorgeous car for 2000's...❤
I had a 2nd gen CTS - it was a great car that was let down by typical GM Build quality. Got rid of it after the warranty was up.
7:37 I feel like the dancing of the musicians still works?...
If Cadillac vehicles were reliable, it's likely I would own a CTS Coupe right now. I've always loved the look of that car
That escalade from the matrix tho . What a car . Its a shame gm discontinued the badassery .
I would love to see a video on the XLR and XLR-V! Maybe you can find more info on the cancelled second gen that was supposedly going to be mid engined
The second generation CTS is still gorgeous
Pretty good documentary, actually, with solid historical footage and movie clips. Spot-on with the volume leveling as well. And factually accurate too, unlike "Shooting Cars."
For me as a German, the (1st gen) CTS still looks good. Nearly have bought one. It has good proportions and a very well designed face. But there also were some flaws like the brown rear flashers ore one of the ugliest center-consoles I ever have seen...
There were a handful of second generation CTS sedans imported by GM to Australia in 2008. The CTS was planned to the launch vehicle for Cadillac's Australian operations. However, GM pulled out shortly after and about 50 vehicles had already arrived. Cadillac, Hummer and Saab were part of GMH (holden) Premium Devision, none of them lasted past the end of 2008 except Saab.
I've only seen a couple since then. Compared with the US spec, these CTS had transparent white taillights. Would have looked great on the wagon.
I own a 2009 DTS and wish they didn't discontinue it. The replacement XTS didn't seem big enough and had a v6. The CT6 blackwing was the closest and it's discontinued.
GREAT info. Please please do an episode on the Mazda 929.
The Sigma and Alpha platforms sound like great names if they were trying to sell to Zoomers. Too bad it'd probably end up being an SUV and a different sized SUV though if they were to try that.
I was going down a mountain up here in Denver....I swear I can hit corners at 80 with ease
I would love to see a video on the Cadillac Fleetwood. I never knew that CTS stood for Catera Touring Sadan.
It's the same with STS (Seville Touring Sedan) and ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe).
will smith was slapping the shifter
they keep evolving
Sometimes you must gamble to survive. We're in a new world now, Caddilac and Lincoln are surviving well.
I have a 2005 CTS.
The CT5 Blackwing will be a collectible as one of the final powerhouse V8 internal combustion engine luxury sports cars before GM and most automakers go full EV.
Blackening? I hope that was an autocorrect.
The 2nd gen CTS almost launched in Australia, to the point thr bought over some cars and everything. Pulled the pin last minute
I know, shame it got canned. Would have been interesting to see how long they'd have lasted.
Occasionally you come across a CTS on Carsales, been tempted to go have a look
Awesome video!!! Thank you!!!!! I’m still waiting for a Fiat video 👍
Can you cover the Chrysler 300 in a future video, as it ends production again this year, after previous incarnations ended production in the ‘60s and ‘70s?
1993-1996 Cadillac Fleetwood
1992-1996 Buick roadmaster
1992-1996 Chevy caprice
1994-1996 impala ss
1992 Oldsmobile custom cruiser
This last RWD Full Frame V8 chassis I love this platform I’ve had several Cadillac fleetwoods
I love Cadillac car
That comercial at the start was actually filmed by where i used to live in Kamloops British columbia. I walked down to the little corner store and there was like 5 of them parked there with the blacked out plates like you see in comercials. Was pretty cool to see
Haven't seen one in years unless I'm at the junkyard
A few years ago I spoke to a Cadillac sales person who said they were going to be adding numbers to their model names, when they went all electric that stood for the power in nutonmeters?
All Cadillacs (except the V's) now have their torque rating in newton meters, rounded up to the nearest 100, as a badge on the back trunklid. It replaced the engine displacement in liters they used to put there, which obviously doesn't work for EVs, so they just got a headstart by using the newton meters on the ICE cars.
The first a second gen CTS were such beautiful cars. They were real home runs for performance enthusiasts who wanted a luxury sedan. Once Cadillac goes all-electric, the first and second gen CTS should have high values and are being sought by collectors. The CTS coupe has an exterior design like a super car! The last gen CTS was a big difference and wasn't attractive. I still see many first and second gen CTS's on the streets and highways.
I see you mentioned the Escalade EXT! Does that mean that you'll be doing a video on the Avalanche and its GMC and Cadillac cousins?
Do a video on the Alante which years were best and worst collector value and parts availability
I really want a CT wagon and a CT5
When a Cadillac is featured in The Matrix,it's gonna piss off the older Caddy buyers!✌
I once had a Buick Century T Type
There's a book called Fin Tales about the introduction of the Art & Science design
So pimp despite being flawed. Shame on Cadillac for killing it off.
the 300C was a bit overdone on the mean styling, to a cartoonish point, but this thing - just cool
The XLR was a sexy looking car.
Would never buy it cos of GM reliability ratings but still pretty.
I think Cadillac should have tried to capture the sporty features of CTS in an SUV package. Longitudinal engine, RWD biased AWD in an SUV designed to be an affordable Porsche Macan. Instead first generation SRX was a mix of station wagon and SUV. Later it didn’t get any better as they switched to transverse engine setup. I would love to see a Porsche Macan style sporty Cadillac SUV that would also receive the V model.
Why didn't GM made a police package out of this car missed opportunity
We need to see the sts and srx crossover
Can we get an episode on the Mazdaspeed cars? I personally have a Mazdaspeed 6 and absolutely adore the turbo kicking in and sending the car to the moon!