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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Cadillac Catera

GM's Cadillac Division was having a tough time in the early 1990s, with an onslaught of Lexuses and Infinitis pouring across the Pacific to steal their younger customers while high-end German manufacturers picked off their older customers. Flying an S-Class-priced model between assembly lines in Turin and Hamtramck hadn't worked out, so why not look to the European outposts of the far-flung GM Empire for the next Cadillac? That's how the Catera was born, and I have found a rare first-year example in a North Carolina car graveyard. Across the Atlantic, GM's Opel and Vauxhall were doing good business with prosperous European car buyers by selling them the sleek rear-wheel-drive Omega B (whose platform also lived beneath the Holden VT Commodore in Australia). Here was a genuine German design that competed with success against BMW and Audi on their home turf! So, the Omega B was Americanized and renamed the Catera. Opel wasn't a completely unknown brand to Americans at the time, since its cars were sold here with their own badging through Buick dealerships from the middle 1950s through the late 1970s (for a much shorter period, American Pontiac dealers attempted to sell Vauxhalls). Even after that, plenty of Opel DNA showed up in the products of U.S.-market GM divisions. The Catera was by far the most affordable Cadillac for 1997, with an MSRP starting at $29,995 (about $59,113 in 2024 dollars). Being a genuine German car, it looked much more convincingly European than the DeVille ($36,995), Eldorado ($37,995) and Seville ($39,995). Inspired by the ducks on the Cadillac emblem (they were really supposed to be martlets, mythical birds with no feet and occasionally lacking beaks), Cadillac's marketers went after youthful car shoppers with a whimsical animated duck named Ziggy. For the 21st century, the birds were removed from the Cadillac emblem in order to attract California buyers under 45 years of age. As we all know, the Catera flopped hard in the marketplace. What sold well in Europe turned out not to translate so well in in North America, especially when bearing the badges of such a historically prestigious brand. The Catera's engine was a 54-degree 3.0-liter V6 rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet. Just as had been the case with its predecessor, the Allante, no manual transmission was available.

2016 Cadillac CT6 shows crisp sense of style in leaked images

You're looking at the 2016 Cadillac CT6, aided by the almost inevitable internet-aided leak, ahead of its debut at the New York Auto Show this week. As you can see, the overall shape is straight-edged and aggressive, and overall in keeping with what we've seen from Cadillac over the last several years. High-tech lighting clusters extend from the fender peaks all the way down in what appear to be LED strips toward the lower fascia and its rectangular fog lights. A suitably massive grille encrusted in chrome boasts one of the larger Wreath and Crest badges we've ever witnessed on a car. Under that sharply creased hood will sit a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 engine with 400 horsepower at its disposal, according to Cadillac, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. A naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V6 will also be available, we're told. We may wish for an edgier range-topping sedan from Cadillac, but it's not really fair to draw any real conclusions from just one leaked image. In other words, stay tuned, 'cause the rest of the story won't be far behind.

It's going to cost $12 billion to fix Cadillac

The Cadillac CT6's development predates Johan de Nysschen taking over at Cadillac, but the forthcoming flagship is the luxury brand's first major new product launch since the beginning of his tenure. The vehicle's debut also marks the beginning of a comprehensive $12 billion renewal plan bringing eight new vehicles in the next five years. Now, the former Audi and Infiniti exec is talking about joining Caddy and the company's future. "Cadillac will be a powerhouse global luxury brand that will command the respect of its peers," de Nysschen said about the forecast state of the company in 2020 to Bloomberg. He disclosed that three of those new vehicles under the five-year plan would be crossovers and reiterated that plug-in hybrids are on the way that would take advantage of the Chevrolet Volt's tech advances. De Nysschen also reminisced about joining Cadillac last year. He told Bloomberg that leaving Infiniti wasn't an easy decision, and there were apparently long conversations on the phone with General Motors President Dan Ammann discussing strategy for the luxury brand. De Nysschen was apparently clear that a greater investment and more autonomy from the corporate mother ship were vital. These days, the revitalization of Cadillac is just getting rolling. The company has a swanky New York office with a dedicated team to focus on the future. According to de Nysschen, the brand will grow its staff to around 150 people by the end of the year, compared to over 40 now. The marketing plan is to position the American luxury brand as a more distinctive product versus more common German rivals. It's going to be very interesting to see if this new Caddy can dare greatly enough to accomplish these lofty goals.