1999 Cadillac Deville Concours on 2040-cars

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Cadillac gives ATS, CTS new V6 for 2016

Replacing the existing 3.6-liter V6 in the Cadillac ATS and CTS is... another 3.6-liter V6. But this one promises higher output, while consuming less fuel, and making less noise. Like the V8s in the CTS-V and Escalade, it's got cylinder-deactivation technology to cut it down to a four-pot under lighter loads, as well as automatic stop/start, and comes mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The new engine produces 335 horsepower and 284 pound-feet of torque. That's a modest improvement over the 321 hp and 275 lb-ft mustered by the unit it replaces. But it also delivers an approximate improvement of nine percent in fuel economy and eight percent in carbon emissions. That's what we'd call a win-win, even if it's a modest one. Of course, those ATS or CTS buyers attracted to higher efficiency will still likely go for the 2.5-liter inline-four or the 2.0-liter turbo four. And those more inclined towards performance will be tempted by the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 in the ATS-V or CTS Vsport – or the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 in the CTS-V, for that matter. But those customers looking for the best of both worlds will surely be pleased by the improvements the new atmospheric V6 and 8-speed gearbox bring to the table. Related Video: New Technologies Boost Efficiency for 2016 CYLINDER DEACTIVATION AND START/STOP SYSTEMS BEGIN PRODUCTION ON ATS AND CTS PRODUCT LINES 2015-10-09 Renowned for luxury and design, Cadillac has recently added dynamic driving performance to its list of attributes. Now as 2016 model year production begins, Cadillac adds new fuel-saving technologies. Active Fuel Management and Automatic Stop/Start technologies, and widespread use of a new 8-speed transmission, are combining to raise fuel economy ratings and reduce emissions in Cadillac's portfolio. Cadillac's all-new six cylinder engine contains Active Fuel Management, or cylinder deactivation, technology enabling it to seamlessly switch from six-cylinder to four-cylinder operation under certain light-load conditions, while maintaining excellent performance. The new 3.6-liter engine is part of the 2016 ATS and CTS product lines. Additionally, the Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV's V8 will shift to four-cylinder operation in many daily driving conditions, as will Cadillac's all-new high performance CTS-V sedan.

Junkyard Gem: 1979 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

The Cadillac Eldorado lost a foot of wheelbase and 1,200 pounds when GM's luxury front-drive platform got downsized for 1979, which turned out to be prescient timing considering the massive spike in oil prices in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The General kept the pricey Biarritz option package from the previous generation, adding a stainless-steel roof in the process. Here's one of those cars, found in a chilly Denver boneyard last month. The stainless-steel roof panel, inspired by the one used on the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, identifies a 1979-1985 Eldorado as a genuine Biarritz. This generation of Eldorado Biarritz achieved its greatest renown as the car bomb that detonates when pink-suited Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) cranks the starter in the 1995 film Casino. Naturally, a 24 Hours of Lemons team obtained one of these cars and raced it while the pit crew wore pastel suits and sipped from Tangiers Casino highball glasses. The MSRP on the base '79 Eldorado was $14,240 and the Biarritz package with leather seats tacked on an additional $2,600. That's $64,495 in 2021 dollars, at a time when plenty of car loans had interest rates approaching 20%. The '79 Seville's base price was higher ($15,646), despite being based on the lowly Chevy Nova, but that difference was erased by the cost of the Biarritz package. The Fleetwood limos were the only pricier Cadillacs that year. Yes, you had to be a true high-roller to purchase a '79 Biarritz. Of course, a new Mercedes-Benz 450SLC cost a terrifying $32,858 (about $125,850 today) that year, but the $13,067 Lincoln Mark V (the price went up substantially if you got one of the editions designed by Bill Blass, Givenchy, or Emilio Pucci) was close competition for the Biarritz. The 1979 Eldorado had something the Lincoln didn't, however: electronic fuel injection. Yes, a 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) Oldsmobile V8 engine with a pretty-modern-for-1979 throttle-body fuel-injection system sent 170 horses to the front wheels via GM's impressive Unitized Power Package longitudinal-engine front-wheel-drive system. Look at all those futuristic devices in that faux-wood dash! That stereo cassette deck added $225 ($860 today) to the price. Cruise control cost $137, the rear defogger added $101, and… well, you get the idea. This Cad is a bit tattered and has some rust spots here and there, but wouldn't have been an overwhelmingly difficult restoration.

Meet the mother-daughter team that's worked on almost every Chevy Volt

It's Mother's Day, and we're soft enough we love our mothers enough to share a new video from General Motors with you. In it, we meet Monique Watson (left) and Evetta Osbourne, a mother-daughter team that works at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly where GM makes the Chevy Volt (along with all of GM's other plug-in hybrids: the Opel Ampera, Holden Volt and Cadillac ELR). The two work side-by-side and have installed the lithium-ion battery pack on almost all of those vehicles - nearly 80,000 of them - since GM started making the pre-production Volts in 2009. In a prepared statement, Watson said that she likes working next to her mom, day in and day out, and they the two are totally in sync when it comes to putting the 400-pound, 16.5-kWh packs into the vehicle undersides. They two can also share stories throughout the day, and Watson said, "The arrangement has absolutely improved our relationship." Osborne started working at Detroit-Hamtramck in 1999, Watson since 2006. If you're driving a Volt today, you probably have them to thank for doing a bit of the work putting your car together. See a short video of them in action below. It's Always Mother's Day for Detroit-Hamtramck Duo Mother, daughter install lithium-ion battery pack in nearly all GM electric vehicles 2014-05-08 DETROIT – For Detroit resident Evetta Osborne, every day is Mother's Day. That's because she literally works side by side with her daughter, Monique Watson, at General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. They have installed the lithium-ion battery pack on nearly every Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera, Holden Volt, and Cadillac ELR since production began. In fact, apart from vacation days and an occasional sick day, the mother-daughter duo has installed almost every battery pack since the Volt was in pre-production in 2009. The ELR launched earlier this year. All told – including Ampera – that's more than 80,000 electric vehicles. "We're a good team and our relationship is secondary when it comes to performing our jobs – but it's great to work alongside my daughter, said Osborne, a mother of five. Because the battery packs weigh more than 400 pounds each, automatic guided vehicles – robotic carts that use sensors to follow a path through the plant – deliver them just as the vehicle body structures glide into position overhead. The carts then lift the T-shaped packs, and Osborne and Watson guide them into the chassis and secure each one with 24 fasteners.