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More than 100 pink Cadillacs assemble for Aretha Franklin’s funeral today

Aretha Franklin's funeral service is under way today in Detroit, and plans call for a service of at least five hours featuring performances by stars including Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande and Chaka Khan, speakers including former President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Al Sharpton, and at least 130 pink Cadillacs lining the road in front of the church. The gesture is a nod to Franklin's Grammy award-winning 1985 hit "Freeway of Love" and its lyrics about driving in a pink Cadillac. Crisette Ellis, the wife of Bishop Charles Ellis III of Detroit's Greater Grace Temple, said they were inspired by how police line up their cars during funerals for fallen officers. "My husband said, 'Wouldn't it be awesome if we could have a sea of pink Cadillacs parked on Seven Mile Road to greet Ms. Aretha Franklin as she arrives?'" she told NPR. Only in #Detroit. 130 pink Cadillacs drive in front of Greater Grace Temple ahead of #ArethaFranklin funeral. pic.twitter.com/qTTJtDXNvS— ROOP RAJ (@rooprajfox2) August 31, 2018 Ellis is an independent national sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics, which famously rewards top sellers with pink Cadillacs, so she had a built-in base of people to call on for the favor. "They're coming from everywhere," she said. "They are coming from as far as Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Florida; North Carolina; Maryland." The funeral, which officially kicked off at 10 a.m. EST at Greater Grace, caps a weeklong celebration of Franklin's life and songs, including a two-day visitation at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and concerts. Performers also include Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson and the Clark Sisters, while Tyler Perry and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are also scheduled to speak. HLN and the Word Network, plus several local Detroit television affiliates, plan to broadcast the funeral, and outlets including The Associated Press and USA Today plan to livestream it. Having sung at the inaugurations of three presidents — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — Franklin was an American institution. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President George W. Bush in 2005. Clinton entered the church with his wife, Hillary, to loud applause and stood quietly by Franklin's open casket before the service started. Franklin's body was dressed in a golden sequined outfit. The funeral was closed to the public, but crowds of fans gathered outside, many dressed in their church best.

Cadillac ELR update delayed over autonomous drive systems issues

Rumors had been circulating that the 2016 Cadillac ELR would bow in Los Angeles recently, featuring, in Cadillac's own words, "engineering enhancements." The rumors and that quote are as far as it got – the updated ELR pulled a no-show in LA, and no one outside of the brand appears to know when it will appear. GM Inside News says its sources at Cadillac pinned the ELR's absence on some autonomous driving features not being ready to reveal. According to GMI, Cadillac insiders say the upgraded ELR will be a "highly autonomous vehicle," and the company needs more time to gets its systems polished. The site says "it's not unreasonable to assume that ELR will be [the] vehicle" that gets Cadillac's Super Cruise technology, but that seems a lot more involved than "engineering enhancements," and in September Cadillac said we'd see it sometime in the next two years. It's possible the wait for the 2016 ELR and its secrets might only be a couple of months: the next-generation Chevrolet Volt, which shares a platform with the ELR and whose engineering updates we know quite a bit about, is scheduled to appear at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January.

Consumer Reports loves the 2014 Cadillac CTS

Our first drive of the 2014 Cadillac CTS was just published today... we really liked the Vsport version. And Consumer Reports has some even stronger words of praise for the all-new luxury sedan. We already knew that Cadillac had stepped up its game with the third-gen CTS, but CR bluntly states that the sedan drives better than its German luxury counterparts.
While CR shows plenty of love for the new CTS, the outlet still takes issue with some of the in-car technology including the CUE infotainment system - no surprise there. The testers' offer all manner of positive comments where the impressive handling capabilities of the sedan are concerned, with lots of drifting around CR's private test facility in evidence to bear them out. Scroll down to watch the CTS get put through its paces.