1975 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible Mandarin Orange 72k Miles on 2040-cars

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What will the next Presidential limo look like?

With recent news that the Secret Service has begun soliciting proposals for a new armored limousine, we've been wondering what the next presidential limo might look like. The current machine, nicknamed "The Beast", has a design based on a car that's no longer sold: the Cadillac DTS. If General Motors gets the job again, which wouldn't be a surprise considering the government still owns a chunk of the company, the next limo's shape would likely resemble the new XTS (below, left). But Cadillac hasn't always been the go-to car company for presidential whips.
Lincoln has actually provided far more presidential limousines throughout history than Cadillac. In fact, the first car modified for Commander-in-Chief-carrying duty was a 1939 Lincoln K-Series called "Sunshine Special" used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the last Lincoln used by a president was a 1989 Town Car ordered for George H.W. Bush. If President Obama wanted a Lincoln today, it would likely be an amalgam of the MKS sedan and MKT crossover, as illustrated above.
And what about Chrysler? The only record we could find of a President favoring the Pentastar is Nixon, who reportedly ordered two limos from the company during his administration in the '70s, and then another one, known today as the "K-Car limo," in the '80s after he left office. Obama, however, has a personal - if modest - connection to Chryslers, having owned a 300 himself before he took office. A 300-based Beast (above, right) would certainly earn the U.S. some style points.

Cadillac CT6 PHEV battery shape a big departure for GM's plug-in hybrid tech

Anyone with any familiarity with the electric powertrain details for the two General Motors plug-in hybrids will have noticed that the information we have about the newly announced Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid has a lot of numbers in common with the Chevy Volt and the Cadillac ELR, like the 18.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and an expected all-electric range of 37 miles. We also noticed that the announcement calls the plug-in CT6 hybrid an actual plug-in hybrid and not an "extended range electric vehicle (EREV)," which is what GM calls the Volt and the ELR. This, of course, means we needed to ask GM some questions. Donny Nordlicht from Cadillac communications told AutoblogGreen that while the Volt and CT6 batteries are both 18.4-kWh, the shape is completely different. In the Volt/ELR, the battery is T-shaped (see it here). The CT6 has four seats, with a tunnel running between the two in the rear, as you can see here, but the battery in the CT6 PHEV is "a cube-shaped pack, which is between rear seats and the trunk," Nordlicht said. "There is no pass through." GM has not yet released any technical schematics about this pack, but Nordlicht said that, "The CT6's advanced mixed-material platform was designed to accommodate the PHEV system by design so that it minimally intrudes on the cabin space." It also means that the CT6 can be ordered as an optional PHEV, while the Volt and ELR were purpose-built plug-ins. GM is also distinguishing between the EREV and PHEV powertrains in its vehicles from this point forward. "We are not discarding the EREV language," Nordlicht said. "The CT6 utilizes a two-motor system mated to a 2.0T 4-cylinder engine, which is an all-new system to Cadillac." We assume that the PHEV packs will use li-ion cells from LG Chem, just like the EREVs do, but Nordlicht did not answer our question on that point. As for other details about the CT6 PHEV – like production, full dimension, and pricing – we will just have to wait until closer to when the vehicle launches for those. Related Video:

Reservations for Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing models to open in February

Cadillac will unveil its high-performance CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing sedans on Feb. 1 and will accept reservations for the cars the same day. Only 250 examples of each car will be built for 2022, and immediately after the reveal, customers can secure one of these Caddies with a $1,000 deposit, which is refundable. Deliveries are set to begin in mid-summer. As a special enticement, those first 250 cars will get a numbered plaque on the steering wheel, which indicates the model, transmission, and build sequence. Note that the plaque comes only on cars equipped with the high-performance steering wheel, which based on the teaser image below appears to have carbon fiber accents. It's standard on the CT5-V Blackwing and included on mid-level and higher versions of the CT4-V Blackwing. We already know that the CT5-V Blackwing will be available with carbon fiber seatbacks. More exciting news is that Cadillac will buck the prevailing trend and offer a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment in both cars. A 10-speed automatic also will be available. It's not yet known what engine will power the sedans, although it's not expected to be the eponymous 550-hp Blackwing V8 that had an abbreviated run in the just-discontinued CT6-V. Cadillac has also announced that Blackwing buyers can avail themselves of a 2-day high-performance driving school experience at Cadillac's V-Series Academy at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. They're on their own as far as getting there, however. The unveiling of the two new Blackwings on Feb. 1 will take place at the brand's main website as well as its Twitter page. Related Video: