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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Cadillac Catera

GM's Cadillac Division was having a tough time in the early 1990s, with an onslaught of Lexuses and Infinitis pouring across the Pacific to steal their younger customers while high-end German manufacturers picked off their older customers. Flying an S-Class-priced model between assembly lines in Turin and Hamtramck hadn't worked out, so why not look to the European outposts of the far-flung GM Empire for the next Cadillac? That's how the Catera was born, and I have found a rare first-year example in a North Carolina car graveyard. Across the Atlantic, GM's Opel and Vauxhall were doing good business with prosperous European car buyers by selling them the sleek rear-wheel-drive Omega B (whose platform also lived beneath the Holden VT Commodore in Australia). Here was a genuine German design that competed with success against BMW and Audi on their home turf! So, the Omega B was Americanized and renamed the Catera. Opel wasn't a completely unknown brand to Americans at the time, since its cars were sold here with their own badging through Buick dealerships from the middle 1950s through the late 1970s (for a much shorter period, American Pontiac dealers attempted to sell Vauxhalls). Even after that, plenty of Opel DNA showed up in the products of U.S.-market GM divisions. The Catera was by far the most affordable Cadillac for 1997, with an MSRP starting at $29,995 (about $59,113 in 2024 dollars). Being a genuine German car, it looked much more convincingly European than the DeVille ($36,995), Eldorado ($37,995) and Seville ($39,995). Inspired by the ducks on the Cadillac emblem (they were really supposed to be martlets, mythical birds with no feet and occasionally lacking beaks), Cadillac's marketers went after youthful car shoppers with a whimsical animated duck named Ziggy. For the 21st century, the birds were removed from the Cadillac emblem in order to attract California buyers under 45 years of age. As we all know, the Catera flopped hard in the marketplace. What sold well in Europe turned out not to translate so well in in North America, especially when bearing the badges of such a historically prestigious brand. The Catera's engine was a 54-degree 3.0-liter V6 rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet. Just as had been the case with its predecessor, the Allante, no manual transmission was available.

Johan responds to critics again about Cadillac's NY move

Cadillac's new President Johan de Nysschen has faced a fair amount of criticism since assuming his position at the head of the American luxury manufacturer. From the company's move to New York City to a controversial new naming scheme, the first few months of his tenure have not been smooth sailing. Now, the embattled exec is firing back against his critics, notably Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain, in a new column running in AN.
De Nysschen countered Crain's claim that the move to the Big Apple, "can only mean that someone wants to live in New York."
"The relocation decision is entirely unrelated to the personal living preferences of any Cadillac executive. No corporation would tolerate such indulgence by its leadership," de Nysschen wrote. "It is about structurally entrenching a challenge to the status quo by reinforcing the psychological and physical separation in business philosophy between the mainstream brands and GM's luxury brand."

Cadillac Super Cruise priced from $2,500 on the 2021 Escalade

Super Cruise will find its next home in the 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The brand had rolled out Super Cruise three years ago on the CT6 as a $5,000 option for the top two trims, then switched up pricing for 2020 when MSRP increases on the top two trims made the more full-featured Super Cruise standard. Cadillac Society reports that the brand will make the hands-free driving technology an option on all but the base 2021 Escalade. On the Premium Luxury and Sport, the feature will cost $2,500, but requires the $3,650 Driver Assist and Technology Package that bundles adaptive cruise control, air ride adaptive suspension, automatic seat belt tightening and soft-close/cinching doors, enhanced automatic emergency braking and reverse automatic braking, and illuminated front sill plates. This brings the total to $6,150 for the middle two trims. The top Premium Luxury Platinum and Sport Platinum trims include the Driver Assist Package, making Super Cruise a no-fuss $2,500 option. The pricing is the same on the standard model and long-wheelbase ESV trims. Earlier this year, Cadillac announced the improvements its made to the SAE Level 2 autonomous driving system, prime among them being the automatic lane change feature. After the driver flicks the turn stalk to indicate the desired lane, the system will automatically locate an opening in traffic where it can safely change lanes. Numerous small improvements will make life easier for drivers, too, like 70,000 more miles of compatible highways, easier Super Cruise engagement, finer steering and speed control, smoother turns, better control through highway interchanges, and much richer map information. After the Escalade, the CT4 and CT5 sedans, and the XT6 are in line to receive Super Cruise blessings. A couple of years ago there were rumors that the XT4 and XT5 would get Super Cruise, but that's likely a ways off, if it happens. Related Video: