balthazar

Feeding the Merlettes ~

The non-Chevy, Corvette-esque concepts of '54 weren't really considered seriously- they were attention-grabbing show cars is about it. There was no development past them; they weren't intended for production. And Cadillac actually did get one- the '53 2/3-seater LeMans, which Cadillac built 5 of. It likely had more serious consideration that the Olds/Pontiac/Buick versions for production. The Corvette, I believe, was intended to be more of an 'everyday man's' sport car, and therefore seemed logical for Chevrolet… but even from '53, it was high priced. It was closer to double the top '53 Chevy base price, and only $100-200 cheaper than the base Series 62 Coupe at Cadillac in '53. smk's claim it's been a cheap sports car since the beginning is invalid. A 'Corvette' for Cadillac in '53 was too far removed from their position & mission at the time. The LeMans would've worked well, tho… but Cadillac had the Eldorado convertible, which would have it's own unique rear clip from '55-58.

I've been there 2 years, '13 and '16. '13 was great, but in '16 it rained and it was a ghost-town. My buddy gets a hotel room and he didn't want to leave, since I rode down with him I was stuck. Even looked into getting a train north but nothing worked out. That was miserable.

Must’ve misread- got Gator numbers from sales ticker on C&G. EDIT :: I posted the Nautilus / MKX number by mistake.

^ I don't believe that's a major percentage OR factor in plant operating costs. It's not like an EV uses 50% of IC assembly space, it's probably closer to 90%. Not going to move needles except in new EV-only plant construction (which we've yet to see any of). Besides, EV brands could use the extra floor space to do extensive and common post-assembly repair work (Tesla) or stockpile unsold production when the next tax credit halving hits (every EV maker).

Nope. 2019 Q1 ~ X7 : 4,477 GLS : 7,695 Navigator : 7,835

Holding a steady course/definition of your brand is better than coming WAY down market. Maybach 62 was $430K in 1998, today's is a mere 170K.

Rimac Concept One- announced production of 88 units was cut to EIGHT. They did sell all of those 8 however. There's a 'concept Two' ("C_Two"- and you thought you hated some of Cadillac's names) - not sure how many have been sold. If it's priced at a million dollars, I'm going to guess less than 8, as the C1 production drop apparently talks to demand. Not sure if 'lower price point' is attainable for EVs. The half-handful that are priced a mere 25% higher than the average car may well be being subsidized by IC production. The global vehicle fleet cannot withstand a unilateral jump to circa $75K.

^ Fiscally-speaking, ocnblu is correct. They're brimming with 'gee-whiz' and 'feel good-i-ness', but that doesn't pay the electric bill. Just read a financial piece stating EVs wouldn't surpass IC vehicles in sales until 2038. And even then, their graph showed inexplicably-escalating future sales to get there. What happened to "2025" ???? I know; reality. Same article also stated passenger EV sales in the US were 6% last year. They weren't- they were 2%. Even on a reduced volume of 15,000,000, 6% would be 900,000 EVs. We're years away from even that level of sales.

Cadillac's pricing has gone up year over year for years. It's eclipsed every other volume brand except MB. It certainly hasn't "failed".

short hood / long deck is where it's at. Here's to hoping it, somehow, comes back.

CT4 is a mistake. Should have stopped at CT5.

The idea that a factory has to use 90 or 100 % of it's floor space to 'be profitable' is erroneous - buildings don't work that way. Operating costs increase as production increases (tho there would be base levels & tiers of cost).

OK, but ‘rumor’ is not ‘Cadillac marketing’. Have to wait & see.

This 2500HD was stickered as a 2019- guess I didn't recall the new HDs aren't out yet. Swanky; black, standard bed, Duramax, $65K.

There was some criticism of lazy take-off from a stop during the loaner trials, but if one needed to launch, you could just raise the RPMs, then release the brake- there they were comparable to period piston cars. Idle speed was about 22,000.

^ Just looked over the complete CT5 introduction press release, didn't mention any competitive models. And there's no advertising out for it yet...

Coupes were a viable alternative when the full-size cars ruled. When the intermediates began to eclipse the full-size cars, it seems the attention to the F/Sers BY THE OEMs waned. Then as each successive model line showed up, increasingly smaller, this is where the disadvantage to a 2-dr became more pronounced, and they waned as a body style. - - - - - This was sitting in a fringe parking lot at a major Lowe's /shopping center, I assume it was a prank :

I'm moving when :

Most people I've dealt with who own rentals, at some point, have inevitably had 'enough'. - - - - -

All the fake grilles are FAR more egregious, IMO, because you can clearly see the portions that are functional and those that are fake on the same car. No one is every going to try and see out OR in that tiny CT5 portal if it were glass and not half obscured by internal structure & seating material. False drama.

These are some distant relatives. What's amazing is that a 'fast moving' freight train pushed a 1916-era car 900 feet and only a small child died. Most people would assume ANY car from the 'nineteen-teens' would vaporize and the people would've been mincemeat. I have no details on the vehicle, but I can tell you Ernest died in 1971, Mrs. Ernest in 1963, and son Willie in 1975, so they survived well beyond the article's dateline.