1977 Cadillac Deville on 2040-cars

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Cadillac imagines the future of luxury transportation with a drone and a pod

Besides more screens and electric cars, GM and Cadillac made sure to pay tribute to the other darlings of the tech industry: autonomous cars and drones. Both concepts take familiar ideas but add a touch of Cadillac flavor. And don't expect either of them to show up in reality anytime soon. The most fanciful of the two is the Cadillac VTOL concept, which stands for vertical takeoff and landing. It's a fully autonomous drone meant for shuttling people, likely wealthy executives, from rooftop to rooftop in busy cities. It's a single-occupant aircraft with a 90-kWh battery pack and is fully autonomous. It has four sets of two rotors that propel the drone to a top speed of 56 mph. The exterior is unique in having the front and rear sets of rotors at different heights, whereas most seem to have the cabin hanging from the rotors. You can spot some Cadillac cues in the beveled, angled edges. The other concept is the Personal Autonomous Vehicle or PAV. It's a fairly generic-looking autonomous pod with a pastiche of Cadillac design cues such as slim lights and angular trimmings. Cadillac says it's meant to be a social space, hence the wraparound bench seats in the cabin. Cadillac doesn't seem to have forgotten personal comfort, though, as you can spot a single-person recliner. Comfort is key, and Cadillac says the PAV would have biometric sensors to read the passengers and adjust the climate control, humidity, lighting and scents to make the the environment as pleasant as possible. Passengers will have control of vehicle functions via voice and gestures. At the end of theses vehicles' reveals, Cadillac teased more far-flung concepts coming soon. One of them will be a two-seat vehicle and mentioned that it would be for "you and someone very special" for more "intimate" trips. Related Video:

Next Cadillac CTS-V confirmed for Detroit

As a car enthusiast, you should be excited for the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Hell, we can barely contain ourselves – it's shaping up to be a great show. And this bit of news only heightens our expectations – Cadillac will be bringing its third-generation CTS-V to January's North American International Auto Show. That bit of high-performance news has been confirmed to Autoblog by Cadillac officials. In fact, we've received an official invitation to the brand's press conference, and while the latter is light on information, it does say, "it's time for the V-Series to elevate to the next level." Considering our last experience with the CTS-V, we're not sure what there is left to elevate, although we're hopeful that Caddy will come up with something. What that could be, of course, is very open to speculation. When the last CTS-V debuted in 2009, it arguably outgunned Germanic challengers like the 500-hp BMW M5 and 518-hp Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG for a lot less money, boasting a detuned version of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1's 6.2-liter supercharged V8. Could that trend carry on, with the next CTS-V borrowing the supercharged, 650-hp mill from the new Corvette Z06? If escalation is the name of the game, the Z06 engine would seem to once again allow Caddy battle it out on firm, big-booted footing with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Of course, all will become clear on the morning of Tuesday, January 13. Like we said, we can hardly wait. Related Video:

Looking back on our favorite cars of Mad Men

The second half of the seventh and final season of Mad Men debuted this week, set to cap a run of public and critical acclaim. A decade's worth of interesting cars also made for good television, if you were paying attention. Vehicles didn't often steal the spotlight from Don, Betty, Roger, Joan and the gang, but they added meaningfully to the tone and beauty of the series. We sorted through the wheeled extras from Mad Men's archives, and choose some of our favorites to highlight. The list consists of cars that had at least a small impact on the plot of an episode, though certainly there are worthy gems hiding in just about every street and driving scene. Check out our subjective top five, and then let us know which of the Mad Men cars would be on your list. 1962 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Season 2 Don Draper's Cadillac Coupe DeVille, all 500 feet of it, shows up in a few seasons of the show, but it's the first appearance that sets the tone. A Cadillac salesman, cut from the same cloth as Draper, asks what Don drives right now. "A Dodge," Don admits. "Those are wonderful if you want to get somewhere," allows the salesman, "this is for when you've already arrived." For a man on the move up corporate and social ladders that's a powerful message, and a pitch-perfect car. 1961 Lincoln Continental – Season 3 The most stylish Lincoln Continental ever is perfect set dressing for the mod show, of course. Though it's interesting that the car isn't cast as dapper Draper's ride, but rather his father-in-law's. Grandpa Gene does what all great grandfathers are bound to: lets his granddaughter Sally drive the big Lincoln while he works the pedals. Generational bond secured, in fine fashion. When you go back through the first three seasons of the show, you'll notice that Continentals show up more than once, too. There's nothing quite like them to evoke the best of the early '60s. 1963 John Deere 110 – Season 3 The only non-standard passenger vehicle on the list, no self-respecting gearhead/Mad Men fan should quibble with the inclusion of the John Deere 110 riding mower. For starters, the Deere is lovely to look at; a miniature version of the American Heartland icon in its green and yellow duds. The 110 appears as if milled from a solid block of steel, just the opposite of today's sleek, plasticky lawn minders (we're scouring Craigslist for one to bring home). The John Deere also has dear ramifications to the plot, too.