balthazar

lane departure warning & active park assist... really? Stylistically its a major 'meh'.

OCN- you've got a good eye for these heritage cues, they did not come to my mind when these pics first came up. With the rampant homogenization of modern design, these little details give me hope. Not a lot, mind you, but some.

^ That's A.R.T., right there. F'ing gorgeous.

Nothing there to buff on the right.

...ignore your grinding disc brakes this long :

Jump-starting an '89 toyoyo the other day, engine decal underhood said "121.9 CI".

Studebaker (part of the Big 4) used to offer diesel pick ups in the 50s (EDIT : oops- those were HD lines). I have a IH Scout diesel road test from the '70s, did the IH pickups offer the diesel? Does GM still own 50% of VM Motori ??

I think she would completely enjoy a Mustang- had one years ago & bonded with it, likes the current one a lot.

IMO, the Black Album is in line with traditional Metallica. The branching out was Lulu & St. Anger, which were damaging flops. MOP, AJFA & DM remain my favorites by far. Hopefully they have another DM in them; the uncountable millions abolishes the angst & sucks the passion right out of the music in most cases. "Cadillac had some home runs in the 1950s" ??? The entire decade was a rout; glamour piled upon solid bedrock, driving style forward & leading the way. There was a brief stumble in '61-62, but Cadillac tacked on another rout of a decade in the 1960s, too. And they focused on product, and grew sales steadily with the same catalog. That's execution. 'Refining design' anymore usually means lateral moves, but if the result is solid & inline with the image & core buyers, that's still good. Thankfully, Cadillac has an immense catalog of design heritage to draw inspiration from, unlike many of it's competitors.

hyper ~Now I have nothing with some edgy cars like the CTS coupe but they should not be what all models are and the cars like the sedans need to still look like a Cadillac on first sight but they do need to adopt some elements that do have universal appeal. This can be done and from what I see they will do it. The Arts and Science has done well to draw attention but there are many who have stayed away because of it. If it takes a little softer edge to pick up more of the market and make more profits then they damn well should do it, The CTS coupe is certainly NOT "what all models are" and in no way has Cadillac suggested they're going in that direction (other than a few obviously non-production concepts), so not sure where you got that idea from. But the CTS & ATS sedans HAVE "adopted elements that have universal appeal" - the issue your post raises is the implication that all elements need to fit this bill. I think you already agreed this is impossible. Sure there are those who don't care for the A&S look, this again is your evidence that there is no universal appeal vehicles. Plenty don't care for mercedes' or BMW's looks, either. This is similar to music where some may claim Metallica sold out from the speed metal and did some softer songs. The fact is they expanded their appeal and made more money and gain more fame than they had if they had just slugged it out with their roots only, This is a fateful analogy. In a declared attempted to "branch out', appeal to different people, and 'stretch our wings', Lulu's 1st week sales were 13,000. In contrast, Death Magnetic's 1st week sales were 490,000. The Black Album is still their highest seller, and it's from '91. Metallica makes money on continued sales of their entire catalog and very successful tours. Their 'experiements' musically have not measured up to what made them popular in the first place. Cadillac was dead in the water circa 2000. A&S has greatly improved their image & appeal - further cultivating what has been highly exclusive (and cribbed in some automotive quarters- see MB) will continue that perception prosperity. Cadillac only need concern themselves with profit, not sales volume.

1968 Chevelle coupe, drag car, back-halved, wheelie bars, fender exhaust, 4-stage nitrous, certified for 8-sec class. Lime green, clean enough, but not a show car by any means. BBC/PG.

Ocn ~ I see your comparison, quite valid (tho I would call those older Cadillacs (esp as pictured) sharper, not softer in line. hyper ~ Going 'softer' to gain more sales is the Wrong Path to follow. Chasing supposed international subjectives only leads to a muddied approach, an image of confusion and a substandard effort. Part & parcel of the luxury segment is exclusivity, not homogenization. Cadillac needs to follow its prime directive focused on product. Sales will follow. There is no universal-appealing design language.

There was all sorts of hand-wringing on the spy shots of the ATS too, but it looks great. Nothing can be 'ruined' until it's here to see in daylight. I have faith Cadillac will nail it.

I don't remember ever reading about this one (and I didn't read the article linked so I don't know), but I don't think any got built beyond the prototype. Interesting how so many of the comments sounds familiar 30 years later. PIC... Article... EDIT : Well wait, one was in the 2003 Agent Cody Banks movie :

I can see fat waxy blackwalls on gloss-black steelies with poverties on a Ventura hardtop coupe with Tri-Ps, but blackwalls on a Bonneville Safari - I don't think so. You know its as wrong as whitewalls on a Spark.

Cats are working wagons, Bonnes are supposed to be more country club. Well, within the Pontiac line.

RE condition: agreed... but what is the significance, on any level, that the car was at Pike's Peak in '61? Unless it competed there, I fail to see it, and even then that's not worth another dollar in & of itself.

Sweet shape- needs whitewalls tho : the wagon single tails and the blackwalls make it look like a Cat. No bargain there on the price however.

There's nothing tangible to figure out. The so-called 'rebranding' is moronic.

Amazing condition, frickin' awesome. Anyone surprised to learn this behemoth tips the scale right at 3400 lbs even?

I'm pretty much with Camino; the interior looks nice, but the exterior (while I wouldn't call it "awful") IS completely generic.

^ Very much correct, in my experience.

Took a trip to look at a 1953 Cadillac Series 62 hardtop coupe. Was a nice solid, all-there, runner, but still needed more work than the price would allow in order to flip ($3500). Emotionally, I was in complete love, tho. Black '53 Caddy coupe. No pics tho.

You KNOW I know. Chrysler seemed to be doing a bit of the shell game on the 440. In '71 it was rated at 220 HP net @ 4000 and 350 TRQ net @ 3200 at 8.8:1 CR. By '74, the numbers were 230 HP & still 350 TRQ @ 3200 with 8.2:1 CR. Still, drive one of these monsters- it feels quick but the stopwatch tells it different. A '70 300H with the 440 (375/480 gross) did 0-60 in 7.1 secs. You KNOW this wagon, at 700 lbs more (5100-4400 (curb weights)) is not going to see the top side of 10 secs, and it's not just the weight. The 230/350 was the net rating on 335/460 net - still not enough to account for nearly 4 sec difference WITH the weight penalty. The rating numbers were there, but the performance wasn't. If '74 wasn't so close in years & product (generally) to '70, I wouldn't be sour on it, but I've driven this era big block wagons, and they aren't great performers, just adequate.

I dunno; 5100 lbs stark, raving naked & 215 HP.....