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Monday, July 25th, 2022 5:00 am EDT
The Cadillac Celestiq was officially unveiled on July 22. The hand-built battery-electric sedan/shooting brake is supposed to re-establish Cadillac as the Standard of the World, a phrase it bestowed upon itself after it introduced the V-16 Roadster in 1930. Over the years, it continued to push the envelope of automotive design with such creations as the 1953 Cadillac Eldorado and then the vehicle that came to symbolize the wretched excess of post-war America, the 1959 models so outrageous in design they inspired songs by Bruce Springsteen and others who referred to them as “tail fin road locomotives.”
Then in 2003, when Bob Lutz was running the show at General Motors, the company rolled out its Cadillac 16 Concept, an exercise in wretched excess that took the classic “long nose, short deck” concept to the extreme. Under the hood was a bespoke 829 cubic inch (13,584 cc) 16-cylinder engine that cranked out more than 1,000 horsepower and 1,000 lb-ft of asphalt melting torque. Just as the original V-16 Roadster came along at a bad time economically, the V-16 Concept landed at a time when fuel economy was foremost on Americans’ minds and never went into production.
That brief history lesson is necessary to educate readers to the mindset at Cadillac, which has limped along for years trying to find its footing in an era where the market called for smaller, more efficient cars and most of its models were warmed over variants of a Chevrolet (Cimarron) or Opel (Catera). It wasn’t until it took a Chevy Suburban, slapped a Cadillac logo the size of a dinner plate on the grille, and called it an Escalade that it began to regain some of its swagger. With the Celestiq, the company expects to regain its status as The Standard of the World again.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Details about the Celestiq are few and far between, but the company is at no loss for words about its wonders in its press release, which insists on writing the name in all caps, a silly convention we refuse to abide by. “Conceived to lead Cadillac’s electric future and inspired by the brand’s 120-year heritage, it serves as a touchstone for the Cadillac design and engineering teams, who continue to develop CELESTIQ as it moves closer to production.”
“The CELESTIQ show car is the purest expression of Cadillac,” says Magalie Debellis, manager, Cadillac Advanced Design. “It brings to life the most integrated expressions of design and innovation in the brand’s history, coalescing in a defining statement of a true Cadillac flagship.”
“In developing the show car, the design and engineering teams immersed themselves in the artisanship and customization that defined early Cadillac sedans such as the bespoke V-16 powered coaches of the prewar era, and the hand-built 1957 Eldorado Brougham. The CELESTIQ is the culmination of that heritage, brought to life with innovative production methods and new technologies.
“Those vehicles represented the pinnacle of luxury in their respective eras, and helped make Cadillac the standard of the world,” said Tony Roma, chief engineer. “The CELESTIQ show car — also a sedan, because the configuration offers the very best luxury experience — builds on that pedigree and captures the spirit of arrival they expressed.”
Now that we have all that hyperventilating out of the way, let’s get to the photos, which really tell you all you need to know about the Celestiq, all caps or not. First, the exterior.
And now the interior.
https://media.cadillac.com/media/us/en/cadillac/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2022/jul/0722-celestiq.html
” data-image-caption=”
Courtesy of Cadillac
” data-medium-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18-400×268.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18-800×535.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”aligncenter wp-image-272469 size-full” title=”Cadillac Celestiq” src=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18.jpg” alt=”Cadillac Celestiq” width=”1280″ height=”856″ srcset=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18.jpg 1280w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18-400×268.jpg 400w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18-800×535.jpg 800w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-18-768×514.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px”>
https://media.cadillac.com/media/us/en/cadillac/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2022/jul/0722-celestiq.html
” data-image-caption=”
Courtesy of Cadillac
” data-medium-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19-400×267.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19-800×533.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”aligncenter wp-image-272468 size-full” title=”Cadillac Celestiq” src=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19.jpg” alt=”Cadillac Celestiq” width=”1280″ height=”853″ srcset=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19.jpg 1280w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19-400×267.jpg 400w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19-800×533.jpg 800w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-19-768×512.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px”>
https://media.cadillac.com/media/us/en/cadillac/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2022/jul/0722-celestiq.html
” data-image-caption=”
Courtesy of Cadillac
” data-medium-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17-400×267.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17-800×533.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”aligncenter wp-image-272467 size-full” title=”Cadillac Celestiq” src=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17.jpg” alt=”Cadillac Celestiq” width=”1280″ height=”853″ srcset=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17.jpg 1280w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17-400×267.jpg 400w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17-800×533.jpg 800w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2022/07/cadillac-celestiq-show-car-17-768×512.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px”>
What We Know
The Celestiq has a number of interesting features. It will debut GM’s newest hands-free driving technology known as Ultra Cruise, which Cadillac claims will cover “95 percent” of driving scenarios on 2 million miles of roads in the US. According to The Verge, the system is also the first to use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Ride Platform, which will have the processing power equivalent to “several hundred” personal computers.
The panoramic glass roof, allows each occupant of the vehicle to set their own level of transparency, thanks to GM’s “Suspended Particle Device” technology which emphasizes customization, personalization, and privacy for all the fortunate few who ride inside. A 55″ digital screen stretches across the entire width of the passenger compartment and features “electronic digital blinds” — an active privacy technology that allows passengers to watch videos while blocking them from the view of the driver.
More Hyperbole From Cadillac
Let’s pick up the puffery in the press release, shall we?
“Designers drew further inspiration from classic architecture such as the mid-century masterpieces of architect Eero Saarinen, along with other iconic American designs, which made era-defining statements when introduced and endured with distinctive timelessness.
“Realizing and infusing those influences within an Ultium-based EV architecture resulted in a clean-sheet expression for the CELESTIQ show car that considers the entirety of travel as a curated experience — one intended to evoke an emotional response. The result is a vehicle that makes a magnetic first impression and cultivates a permanent personal connection.”
“We’ve combined the beauty of function with the beauty of form,” said Laetitia Lopez, creative designer, Cadillac Color and Trim. “We had to reconsider all aspects to immerse the customer, all of their senses, and create a connection with the vehicle through the finest genuine materials, exceptional detailing and advanced technology.”
The Celestiq will be assembled at the GM Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, which was designed by Eero Saarinen and debuted in May of 1956. Since then, it has been the heart of the company’s engineering and design efforts. GM is spending $81 million to expand that facility to build the Celestiq, the first production car assembled there since it opened.
The Standard Of The World?
The Cadillac Celestiq is not a car you can ignore. Its big, bold, in your face styling will be polarizing. It’s a love it or hate it proposition that you can’t ignore, and that’s the point. At $300,000 a piece, Cadillac may sell only a few dozen of them, but that’s fine with them. The Celestiq is truly a halo car — an aspirational vehicle whose mission is to spread a warm glow over every other car the company makes. It’s meant to bring customers into showrooms to ogle it before they drive out behind the wheel of a brand new Lyriq. That’s why the Celesiq exists, and for Cadillac, that’s enough.
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