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Autoblog Podcast #326

Easter Jeep Safari concepts, Shelby 1000, 2014 Cadillac CTS and Mercedes CLA45 AMG leaks
Episode #326 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Zach Bowman talk about this year's Easter Jeep Safari concepts, the 1,200-horsepower Shelby 1000 and leaked images of the 2014 Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG. We wrap with your questions and emails, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #326:

Beast mode on the open road: New presidential limo close to delivery

Signs of the Beast have been seen on the open roads around Milford, Mich., home of GM's Proving Grounds. The Beast, in this case, being the nickname for the next-generation presidential limousine. We've seen this car previously in spy shots while parked or driven, going back to January 2016. This is our spy photographers' latest look at the vehicle, and the first on public roads. Which may be a sign that it is almost ready for delivery. It replaces the current Beast, which has been in use since 2009. And "car" isn't exactly the right word for this rig, as it's actually a unique vehicle with Cadillac styling cues custom-built atop a medium-duty truck frame. There may possibly be more than one Beast 2.0 delivered, because two limos are sent anywhere the president goes, to provide a backup or decoy. The grille has touches of the Cadillac Escala concept car, which is heavily influencing Cadillac's evolving future look. But it's what's inside that intrigues everyone. Here's what we know, or at least has long been rumored, about the current Beast and the new Beast 2.0. 1. It has its own airplane. It and its twin follow the president around the globe aboard a C-17 Globemaster cargo plane. 2. It's heavily armored, with 5-inch-thick glass, 8-inch-thick doors that weigh as much as a commercial aircraft door, and its components include titanium, ceramics, and a bombproof plate that covers the underside. As such, the old Beast was estimated to weigh between 14,000 and 20,000 pounds. You can therefore imagine how it got its name. 3. It's equipped like the Batmobile or the Green Hornet's Chrysler Imperial Crown, with run-flat tires and night-vision gear. It can fire gas canisters out the front bumper. 4. It has a diesel engine because of its weight and size (see the gallery below for a sense of scale). And of course, diesel is less flammable in a firefight. The old Beast supposedly gets 8 mpg. 5. Its Secret Service codename is Stagecoach. 6. There's a shotgun by the driver and God-knows-what in the trunk. 7. It supposedly has a stock of blood in the president's type, along with a defibrillator and other emergency gear. 8. And it's pretty nice inside, by all accounts. Since this is not Trump's own personal vehicle and may well serve his successor, let's assume the gold leaf has been kept to a minimum and it's done up in tasteful leather and wood. But then again, who really knows, outside of the Secret Service and a handful of GM engineers.

Cadillac ATS Coupe headed for Detroit reveal

Cadillac wouldn't be Cadillac without its two-door models. But the XLR has been discontinued for over four years now, the Elmiraj concept may never see production and the future of the CTS Coupe is still up in the air. That leaves just the ELR, which may not be conventional enough for traditional Cadillac coupe buyers. Fortunately a new coupe is coming along to fill the void.
According to Edmunds, Cadillac will reveal the new ATS coupe just a couple of months from now at the Detroit Auto Show. Expected to mechanically mirror the existing ATS sedan, the new coupe will also more conventionally resemble its four-door counterpart than the CTS, whose coupe version was distinguished by a rakishly sloping roofline.
Expect the same choice of engines to carry over, with a 2.5-liter four serving as the base engine, and both a 2.0-liter turbo four and a 3.6-liter V6 offering more power for those looking for that extra bit of oomph. Following the Detroit reveal, sources anticipate the ATS coupe to go on sale next summer.