General Motors car czar and current vice chairman, Bob Lutz will receive a brand new Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon as a parting gift when he leaves GM for a second shot at retirement on May 1.
The new model debuted this week at the New York International Auto Show and is definitely not your parents’ wood-paneled family truckster. It adds depth to the V-Series portfolio now consisting of CTS-V Sedan. A coupe variant will round out the trio when it hits dealerships this summer.
“If I had to pick one car to drive for the rest of my life it would be a CTS-V Sport Wagon," Lutz told Wired.com. “When you look at the styling, there is nothing rational that speaks against having a wagon versus a sedan. It’s got more convenience, better aerodynamics ... a lot more room. Personally, I think the design is even more exciting than it is in the sedan. Now coupled with the V-Series power train, why would you pick anything else?”
Just like its V-Series brethren, this Caddy does a little more than zig with magnetic ride control, Brembo brakes and a 556 hp 6.2L supercharged V-8 that drastically out ponies and undercuts the Audi S6, Mercedes E63 AMG, BMW M5 and Jaguar XFR.
The family resemblance is clearest from the front, where the Eaton supercharger makes for a bulge in the hood and the gaping black mesh grille doubles as an intimidator and an XL air vent for better engine cooling. The pre-production model you see here is finished in Midnight Silver, a color GM tells us was first seen on the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen Concept.
"From a performance standpoint, and a dynamic standpoint and also a styling standpoint, the CTS-V Sport Wagon is more than a match for the German vehicles, excellent though they may be," Lutz said. "When you couple the experience of a V-Series CTS with the convenience of a wagon and the absolute unique design of this wagon, especially with the price difference, I don’t think the Germans can lay a glove on it.”
We know what you’re thinking. Why didn’t Maximum Bob go for the 638-hp Corvette ZR-1? The short answer: He already has one.
More photos of the Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon on the next page.
*Images: Stuart Schwartzapfel, Man on the Move
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