1976 Cadillac Deville Base Coupe 2-door 8.2l on 2040-cars

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Why the 2015 Detroit Auto Show will be the best since The Crisis

The Detroit Auto Show clearly has its swagger back, and the 2015 edition will be a veritable feast for the enthusiast senses. We're talking serious performance, and it will be exhibited in a variety of forms. Sports cars. Supercars. Muscle-bound luxury cars. They're all set for splashy debuts in January in the Motor City. It's another signpost that companies have recovered from the global economic crisis that gripped the industry from 2008-09. For a while, automakers played it safe at Detroit and other shows. Environmentally friendly cars were important, especially for General Motors and Chrysler that were living on loans from Uncle Sam. Ford, Toyota and other companies generally focused on their best-selling or core models. With a few notable exceptions, recent auto shows have been a bit more buttoned-down than in the past. Boring probably isn't the right word, but austerity has been reality. That's changing. Car companies are making money. Sales are up. Aside from the many nagging recalls – and they are notable – the industry now has the time and energy to make performance cars a priority. That will be offered in hard evidence in Detroit. A year from now when we look back at this auto show, we'll sum it up with one word: Horsepower. But make no mistake, this isn't frivolous. Sports and luxury cars are expensive. They're profitable. They boost images and highlight strengths. With that in mind, here are five significant performance-oriented reveals to watch for when the show kicks off in less than two weeks. 2016 Acura NSX Acura's reborn NSX is a strong bet to earn plenty of votes for our Editors' Choice awards. It's one of the most anticipated – and strung-out – reveals of the year. Think back: we actually saw an NSX concept at the 2012 Detroit show, and Acura has spent the last three years teasing the car in a variety of ways. The slow burn, however, means we know a lot about the NSX. It's will use a mid-mounted twin-turbo hybrid powertrain and run with all-wheel drive. It will also wear an innovative zirconium e-coat paint, a new paint process that Honda says is more environmentally friendly. Honda has also said it will build the new NSX in Ohio, where a large part of the car's development work has been done. The original NSX was produced from 1990-2005 and helped establish Acura's performance credentials in the United States. It was a landmark car and a shot across the bow of Ferrari, Lamborghini and others.

Cadillac CT6 Plug-in Hybrid is dead for 2019

Plug-in hybrids seem to have it hard at Cadillac. First there was the ELR flop, and now Cadillac is killing off the CT6 Plug-in Hybrid. The news of the hybrid's demise was first broken by GM Authority, and we received a statement from Cadillac confirming that it would be discontinued. With it disappearing for the 2019 model year, the CT6 Plug-in was only around for two model years, the same as the ELR. The Cadillac representative we contacted didn't say exactly why the CT6 Plug-in is being discontinued. All that was mentioned was that focus for the new model year would be on the refresh and the CT6-V. We would guess the hybrid is gone due to slow sales, but General Motors doesn't break out individual trims and powertrains in its quarterly delivery reports, so we can't say for sure. We're a bit disappointed that the CT6 hybrid is going away. We were pleased with its fuel economy and refinement when we had an opportunity to drive one, and its only real sacrifice was a smaller trunk. On the plus side, Cadillac's statement to us said that there are definitely additional electric vehicles coming to the brand, noting that some of the 20 promised electric vehicles from GM by 2023 will be Cadillacs. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Cadillac CT6 Plug-in Hybrid View 15 Photos Image Credit: Cadillac Cadillac Hybrid Luxury Sedan cadillac ct6 cadillac ct6 hybrid

Cadillac is doing a 'second installment' of the CT6-V for $92,790

After being all but certain the Cadillac CT6 would begin pushing American daisies June 1, the brand said "the CT6 was never meant to be fully on the chopping block." The same day we got that news, Cadillac began taking pre-orders for the CT6-V. Limited to 275 units and costing $88,790 after destination, orders came in so quickly that order books closed only hours later. Turns out the phrase "275 pre-order slots" was another slight miscommunication. Cadillac has announced continued production of the CT6-V, this time costing $92,790. In February, Cadillac Society confirmed with the automaker that the 275 figure only applied to pre-orders. It isn't clear how many CT6-Vs will be built in what the brand calls the "second installment," but it is clear that buyers who didn't get in early will pay more. Cars Direct was privy to a letter sent to dealers that said pre-order buyers "were rewarded with a special introductory offer by quickly raising their hand." Those slow on the draw have hopefully used the extra time to fish another $4,000 from their pockets. The elevated price buys the same car that was $88,790 two months ago - nothing has changed but the bottom line. The new MSRP puts more distance between the hot CT6-V and the $89,290 CTS-V. Conversely, the CT6-V with a Blackwing V8 beating 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque is now just $4,000 less than the coming Platinum V8 trim, which costs $96,790. That Platinum version gets a detuned Blacking putting out 500 hp and 553 lb-ft. The vague phrase "second installment" phrase makes us think Cadillac's not committing to a number so it can cap production at will depending on how this more expensive go-round fares. Still, it's good news for anyone who wanted the sedan new and didn't hit the buzzer quickly enough in January. As if all that weren't surprising enough, GM Authority reported that there's a second-gen CT6 in development. The outlet's sources say the new sedan will move to GM's VSS-R platform, the modular architecture that will replace both the Alpha and Omega platforms. The platform initialism stands for Vehicle Set Strategy - Rear-wheel drive. The car even has a codename: 7ESL, where 7 represents the architecture, E the segment, S the sedan body style, and L the Cadillac brand. Looks like the CT6 will be nothing but surprises this year.