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2023 GM full-size SUVs get Super Cruise expansion pack first

In August, GM announced it had doubled the size of the network of roads available to its Super Cruise hands-free driving feature. Joining the options list in 2017, Super Cruise had been limited to divided interstate highways in the U.S. and Canada. The expansion opened 200,000 miles of additional divided interstate highway as well as major, undivided highways. Both coasts benefit, but there will be a lot more relaxing motoring on the East Coast especially. North of the border, six of the 10 Canadian provinces add enabled roads. Problem is, no GM vehicles have been able to take advantage of the boon. That changes this month, the automaker saying four of its full-size SUVs in specific trims are first in line to make use of the expansion. The SUVs are: 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier and High Country 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Premier and High Country 2023 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade-V 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate  The vehicles need to have been built on or after October 3, 2022, a production timeline GM says should put the first examples in customer hands this month. The least expensive way to get into Super Cruise is with the two-wheel drive, $77,625 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier with the 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel and the Advanced Technology Package. Vehicles that use the GM's Vehicle Intelligence Platform electrical architecture and already have Super Cruise will receive an over-the-air update "in the coming months" to access the new roads, at no cost to owners. Since other products like the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Sierra work with the VIP platform as well, they probably aren't far away from the extra capability and they'll bring a lower financial bar to entry.  Related video:

Cadillac considering more electric cars, Elmiraj business case gaining popularity

Cadillac's electrification isn't likely to stop at the $76,000 ELR coupe, according a report from TheDetroitBureau.com. Speaking to Cadillac's global sales boss, Bob Ferguson, a successful ELR will likely lead to a larger, even more upscale offering than the Volt-based two-door. "I could certainly see a larger vehicle, something even more luxurious," Ferguson said of a potential second, battery-powered Caddy.
That car would likely boast a more potent version of the Voltec powertrain that motivates the Volt and ELR. This next-generation system is still sometime off, though, and won't likely arrive until the second-generation Volt hits the market.
Besides hinting at future plug-in hybrids, Ferguson spoke to TDB about the improving business case for the Elmiraj Concept, shown at the Pebble Beach Concours in Monterey in August. "I'm very excited about the reception for the Elmiraj," Ferguson said. "I'd like to see it in showrooms as soon as possible," he added, before saying that a business case for the production version of the big coupe still needed to be presented to the brass. "It was made to be operationalized," Ferguson added, which is just what we want to hear when it comes to big, flashy concept cars.

Junkyard Gem: 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

Convertibles rode high well in 1960s America, with Detroit selling more than 500,000 ragtops in 1965, but sales collapsed by the early 1970s and tightening federal crash-safety regulations made it seem less worthwhile to even bother producing new ones. Chrysler halted convertible production after 1971, with Ford following suit by 1973. By the 1976 model year, the Cadillac Eldorado was the last new American car you could buy with a convertible top from the factory, and it appeared that none would ever be built again. I've found one of those "last convertible" Eldorados in rough-but-identifiable condition in a Denver junkyard. As it turned out, the convertible never really died in America. Car shoppers could still buy new European-made convertibles after 1976, coachbuilders modified new Detroit cars with factory-grade drop-tops, and then Chrysler began selling K-Car convertibles starting with the 1982 model year. Because the '76 Eldorado appeared to be the absolute end of the convertible line, however, buyers thought they were investing in a sure-fire collector car that would be worth vast sums in the not-very-distant future (this belief led to lawsuits against GM later on, when the Cadillac Division resumed production of the Eldorado convertible for 1984). While a one-of-200-made Bicentennial Edition Eldorado with red-white-and-blue trim really is worth plenty these days, an ordinary 1976 Eldorado in beat-up condition doesn't seem worth restoring. This car appears to have sat outside in Colorado with the top down for decades, filling with snow each winter and enduring high-elevation solar irradiation each summer. A 1960s GTO or Camaro might be worth fixing up after falling into this state of disrepair, but not one of 14,000 "last convertible" Eldorados made in 1976. GM's Unified Powerplant Package front-wheel-drive system, which used battleship-strength chains to transmit power to the drive wheels, proved to be extremely reliable on the street, joining the small-block Chevrolet engine and Hydra-Matic transmission in the pantheon of The General's Greatest Engineering Hits. Even gigantic motorhomes used this system. In 1976, the Eldorado got the last of the 500-cubic-inch (8.2 liter, or litre as GM's marketers spelled it) V8s, rated at a disappointing 190 horsepower and an impressive 360 lb-ft of torque.