A Sporty Caddy
The 2003 Cadillac CTS

by Denise McCluggage

Question: Will Cadillac ever again be "the Cadillac of cars?"

Answer: Don't bet against it.

The journey back to the lost throne of being the world's "standard" is begun under the banner of "Art and Science" and leading the way is the all-new Cadillac CTS, a so-called entry level luxury four-door on sale after the first of the year as a 2003 model. Powered by a 3.2 liter V6 offering 220-hp, the rear-wheel drive CTS is available with a five-speed transmission, either automatic or manual. It will be stickered in the $30,000 to $35,000 range.

Forget that the CTS is a Catera replacement (you remember that zig-car?) because both the approach and the outcome are different enough to have no precedent. The CTS is not the remake of a borrowed concept, but a totally new car and the first to be built on GM's new world platform called Sigma.

The CTS is aimed at drivers. The assumption: most of those who prefer performance, agility and style to a Laz-e-Boy ride are generally younger, and thus will Cadillac's demographics begin a desired turn toward maturing Baby Boomers rather than their aging parents and grandparents.

Start with the "art."

The look of the CTS is not a familiar sleek envelope, as smooth as used soap. Think soap fresh out of the wrapper with edges and planes still distinct. The CTS is blockier, more technoid in appearance than other cars. Someone said the stylists' intent was to make the CTS look as if it were carved from a single block of steel. Whatever. The result is a unique blend of sharp demarcations with interim planes reminiscent of the rocks in a Marsden Hartley landscape.

The CTS with its blocks and creases could have been constructed by a paper engineer, those clever folk who create intricate pop-up books. Imagine a page opening and there pops up this car in its edgy intricacy. There is a touch of magic about both the CTS and pop-ups.

For me the handsomest aspect of the CTS is the rear three-quarter view with its interplay of edges and spaces accented by the exclamation point of the strong vertical taillights (said to emulate the verticality of the Cadillac fins of yesteryear.)

Less successful for me in the front end. The horizontals in the grille too quickly reminded me of Venetian blind slats. Nor does the shape of the headlights delight me, nor the bulldog-jut of the jaw line. Those impressions came as I stood in contemplation of the car in August on the lawn at Pebble Beach where I first encountered it. Then, oddly, in the road testing months later that front view looked rather better when seen in a rearview mirror. Certainly it is not just any old car.

But whatever cavils over details come to mind the overall effect is excitement, piqued interest and often from bystanders the mouthed "Wow!"

Like most designs that stir such a strong positive response there are those that dislike it intensely, too. But as Bob Lutz, now at GM after retiring from his presidency at Chrysler, said years ago about the love-it-hate-it redesign of the Dodge Ram pick-up: "That's the response we want. Nobody buys their second choice". (CONTINUE...)