C'mon now, you haven't truly gotten your fill of Hennessey, yet, have you? Here's Hennessey Performance Engineering's Cadillac CTS-V V700, essentially a ZR1-powered CTS-V, with a supercharged LS9 V8 making an alleged 700 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque.
HPE claims a 10.9-second quarter-mile is possible, though in this video it manages only an 11.14 at 129.95 mph. (Yep, 11.14 instead of 11.17 if the timer at the dragstrip is to be believed.)
The granddaddy of all car auctions, Barrett-Jackson, runs next week from Tues. Jan. 19 to Sun. Jan. 24. Already a Hemi 'Cuda re-creation has been struck from the car list because the VIN on the car didn't match the title. Turns out the car was reported stolen in 1976.
Shelby American is the official sponsor of the opening night, invitation-only gala on the 18th. Carroll Shelby and his empire are celebrating the 45th anniversary of the GT350 Mustang and the 427 Cobra. So if you don't like Mustangs and Cobras, stay away from Scottsdale.
As usual, pre-1970s American nameplates account for the vast majority of lots at Barrett-Jackson, among them the 1930 Ford Model A used by the famous gangster John Dillinger. During a run from the law in 1934, "Dillinger, it is said, smashed the Ford's rear window with his Thompson [submachine gun] and sprayed his pursuers with bullets," reads a Barrett-Jackson statement.
The most expensive car ever sold at a Scottsdale auction is the 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake Roadster that went for $5.5 million at the 2007 Barrett-Jackson auctions, according to Sports Car Market.
There are a few newer cars on offer, too, and the newest of the new will be the first, full-production 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe. The winning bidder will get to specify the drivetrain and options on the car. The proceeds, over and above the market value of the CTS coupe, will benefit the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
Other curiosities include this tiny Honda 600, the first mass-market Honda automobile and a 1952 Watson Roadster customized with a front-mounted 29-liter V12 tank engine by Blastolene. The 270-inch-long tank car has a 160-inch wheelbase and weighs 8,400 pounds. There's a video of it after the jump.
Speed will broadcast live from the auction Tuesday to Sunday. You can view the TV schedule here.
IL News: John Dillinger's 1930 Ford Model A To Cross Barrett-Jackson Auction Block
Continue reading 2010 Barrett-Jackson Auction Preview: 1,200+ Cars, One Less 'Cuda, First CTS Coupe.
#NAIAS Cadillac's general manager Bryan Nesbitt didn't use much of today's Detroit Auto Show press conference to talk about the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V. He went over the specs, pointed out those big honking pipes and then moved on. That's what happens when there's a concept car waiting for its debut.
This CTS coupe deserved more than that. It was just two years that Cadillac teased us with what was then the CTS coupe concept. Now, we not only have a production version of that car, we'll soon have a 556-horsepower version with a manual transmission, Brembo brakes and a limited slip differential.
Maybe that kind of car has lost its luster in the hybrid world, but anyone who's a fan of Cadillac, or GM for that matter, should be far more excited about the CTS-V coupe than the XTS concept that got all the attention.
#NAIAS
According to Cadillac Design Director Clay Dean, the potential customer for the production version of the full-size XTS Platinum concept, "wants to be unique. But doesn't want to wear a fluorescent dress to the party."
We suppose we can't argue with that. Nor can we argue with Clay's assessment that the XTS sedan's design evidences a "contemporary but elegant flow," mostly because we're not entirely sure what that means. But we're with him when he says that the XTS design puts more of an emphasis on the art side of the Art and Science design theme Caddy's been playing with for some time now.
By now, we all know that the XTS will make it to production, that it will replace the DTS and STS models, that it will be built in Ontario, Canada, sometime early in 2012. According to Dean, the two-mode hybrid powertrain that the concept is said to have is the real deal. "We wouldn't be showing it if we weren't serious about doing it."
And according to Cadillac General Manager Bryan Nesbitt, all future Cadillacs will have either a Platinum super-luxury variant or a performance-minded V-series version. You'll forgive us, we presume, if we tell you that when we were on the Cadillac stand this morning we were drawn to the big, fat pipes on the CTS-V coupe the company also unveiled today more than the XTS.
Perhaps, later today we'll go shopping for a fluorescent dress. Perhaps.
Read our full story on the Cadillac XTS Platinum concept.
Canadian broadcaster CTV reports that the production version of the Cadillac XTS sedan will go into production at GM's Oshawa, Ontario, plant in January 2012. The XTS will be unveiled in concept form at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
Cadillac officials had previously told us the car would start production in 2011.
The source of the CTV's information is apparently a memo from the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA).
Bob Lutz has written up a list of New Year's resolutions for GM and we've published them exclusively here on Inside Line. Think of it GM's 2010 to-do list.
Product is on top. Lutz writes, "GM builds cars and trucks and crossovers. That is what we do. In 2009, we were given an opportunity to continue doing so, and we must not squander that opportunity. Therefore, we are resolved, if you will, not to lose sight of the fact that if we don't build the best cars, trucks and crossovers on the planet, that opportunity will go for naught."
Also on the list: Changing people's minds.
"It's not arrogant to think you have great vehicles, so long as you do, and to try to spread the word about them. No one at GM has said that every vehicle we have is world-class -- we still have room to improve. And no one at GM, including me, has said that the consumer is too dumb to realize how good our new products are. All we've said is that the consumer perhaps is unaware of said fact. That's a far cry from being dumb."
Read the full article and tell us what you think of Lutz's, and GM's, order of priorities.
Inside Line Exclusive Feature -- General Motors: The Year Ahead
Cadillac has released a few more photos of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe ahead of its debut at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show next week. They're nothing earth-shattering, but it's a chance to get a closer look at the 6-pot fixed front brake calipers (4 pistons for the rears) and the twin-barrel exhaust.
Cadillac has released official photos and details on the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, which makes its debut at next week's Detroit Auto Show. We've the face before, but we're already taking a shine to the twin-barrel, center-mounted exhaust coming out the back of the V-series coupe.
To the disappointment of no one, the supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V8 is under the hood, and it's good for 556 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 551 pound-feet of torque at 3,800 rpm. Either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic will drive the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential. The tires are 19-inch Michelin PS2s, which is to say sticky.
The wheelbase remains 113.4 inches, but appropriately, the coupe is 3 inches shorter nose to tail with a 2-inch lower roofline and a faster windshield. So, yeah, there's less headroom.
If that sounds horrifically impractical, just get the CTS-V sedan. Or wait for the CTS-V wagon. It's a done deal waiting for an official announcement.
Ken Cole, vice president of governmental relations for General Motors, will retire after 8 years on the job. In his place, GM's interim CEO, Ed Whitacre, will install his own men, John Montford and Bob Ferguson, both former AT&T executives.
Cole was tangled up in all the Capitol Hill battles during the year of upheaval at GM; his counterpart at Chrysler, John Bozzella, has already moved on to take a position with Cerberus Capital, former owner of Chrysler. Cole will stay on with GM as an advisor "until his retirement later in 2010," according to GM.
Montford (top headshot) will serve as a special advisor to Whitacre, while Ferguson (lower headshot) will hold the formal of title of vice president of government relations. They'll both be on the job January 1.
Toyota recalled nearly 4.9 million vehicles in 2009 -- the most of any automaker in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press reports. This is the first time Toyota has ever led in annual recalls, and of course this milestone is the result of the floor mat debacle during which 4.3 million vehicles were recalled.
Free Press writers crunched the numbers on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Web site. Ford came up second with 4.5 million recalled vehicles -- most of them covered by recalls for cruise control switches that can catch fire, a chronic defect in older Fords.
Next up was GM was 2.2 million recalled vehicles, followed by Hyundai with just over 1 million and Nissan with 700,000+. Chrysler rounded out the top five with 590,000.
You can see the full list in the Free Press article.
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
The biggest of the V8s are on their way out. Mercedes has announced that the 6.2-liter V8, as seen in this 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, will be dropped in late 2010. In its place will be a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8. The same thing's happening to the BMW M5, which is slated to lose its 5.0-liter V10 also in favor of a twin-turbo V8.
So 2010 is a special year for performance sedans, and especially so for the E63 AMG, which is hot off a redesign and destined to become collectible. It's also hugely expensive in Benz tradition, with an MSRP of $86,625 that balloons to six figures with shocking ease. But you get what you pay for, right?
Then again, you could get into a Cadillac CTS-V for thousands of dollars less. You'd still get a 6.2-liter V8, albeit with pushrods and a supercharger, and you'd come away with even more horsepower and torque in a rear-drive midsize sedan of similar weight. No, you wouldn't enjoy the prestige and out-and-out refinement of a Mercedes, but this is IL Track Tested so we aren't smelling the leather or measuring the gap tolerances. Happy holidays.
Note: We tested both automatic- and manual-transmission versions of the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. The quicker automatic-equipped CTS-V is the basis for comparison here, but you can see numbers for the manual car in the original full test.
Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG vs. 2009 Cadillac CTS-V.
Cadillac has released the above rendering of, well, mostly of a headlight, in advance of the Detroit Auto Show.
Eventually, Cadillac is expected to unveil an entire concept car connected to this headlight--once that car is built, that is. That as-yet-unnamed concept is expected (by us) to be a large sedan that will reveal the basic styling the brand's upcoming XTS full-size luxo-boat that will replace both the STS and DTS models. Last we heard, the production car will use a version of the Buick LaCrosse's Epsilon front-/all-wheel-drive platform and won't go into production until 2011.
We make this leap of faith since, well, we know the XTS is coming, we can see two door handles on the driver's side (in spooky blue light) and because this thing looks big. Case closed.
We asked a Cadillac rep about the vehicle's size to which he cleverly replied, "no comment." We suppose it could be a concept to hint at the upcoming 3-series-fighting ATS sedan or possibly a thinly disguised Tata Nano competitor. He did confirm that it will not be a re-badged Toyota iQ city car.
After tidying up the executive ranks, new General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre set about in earnest to appoint a new chief financial officer. Today the company announced it has found one in the ranks at Microsoft. Chris Liddell will take over as GM vice chairman and CFO, effective January 2010. Liddell has been the CFO of Microsoft since May 2005.
Liddell takes over for current CFO Ray Young, who fell out of favor when the President's automotive taskforce laid into GM for its poor financial management. Young has been reassigned as CFO of GM's international operations and will be relocating from Detroit to Shanghai.
Before coming to Microsoft, Liddell was the CFO of International Paper, and before that, he was the CEO of Carter Holt Harvey Ltd., a paper products company in New Zealand. Liddell is a native New Zealander and holds an engineering degree from the University of Auckland, plus a masters in philosophy from Oxford University in England.
Apparently, one Mr. Ed Whitacre makes no idle threats. When he mentioned in a web chat Tuesday that current GM execs have "not long" to prove themselves (with a creepily cheerful emoticon), we didn't now he meant 24-to-48-hours not-long.
Yesterday, GM announced that Chevrolet General Manager Brent Dewar would be retiring April 1, 2010 to "pursue personal interests..." and so forth and so on. He is to be replaced by James Campbell, another current GM staffer.
Now the company is confirming that Michael Richards (pictured above) will be leaving his post as Buick/GMC General Manager to "...pursue other interests..." and so forth and so on. In what must be one of the shortest tenures since we discovered that our job at Taco Bell would entail cleaning the bathrooms, Richards lasted only eight days. The good news there is that Richards probably didn't have time to arrange his favorite Dilbert cartoons and bobble-head collection in his new (old) office. No permanent replacement has been announced but Brian Sweeney, the brands' current sales manager, will serve as interim leader.
The move leaves Bryan Nesbitt, of Cadillac, as the last general manager standing.
Anyway, uh, Happy Holidays.
The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe debuted last week in Los Angeles, and you can get a look at if you go to the 2009 LA Auto Show this week. If that's not in the cards, Bryan Nesbitt, general manager of Cadillac, takes you through various interior and exterior design elements in this video.
Alas, we see no evidence of the coupe's "14-way power Recaro seats" in this video -- the interior might as well be that of a CTS sedan.
The CTS coupe goes on sale in Spring 2010.
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