Bob Lutz Says Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon is a Go

556hp Cadillac CTS-V wagon will go into production. The wagon will be the third member of the CTS-V line-up.

“You know what’s really going to get you guys is the CTS-V wagon”, said Lutz. The journalist responded “Oh, has the wagon been confirmed?” “Yes,” he replied, “You’ll be able to get the CTS-V anyway you want.” Great news if you are in favor of sporty wagon build by a US manufacturer.

The CTS-V Sport Wagon accompanies the CTS-V Sedan and the upcoming CTS-V Coupe which will drive and appear next year. Lutz didn’t provide any time frame for this arrival, but we think that GM made a nice decision to put this model into production and expand the line-up. Still Europe is the only region where power stations like the M5 Touring and RS6 Avant are surrounded by a large amount of enthusiasts.

We still have to wait and see what the vehicle holds when it hits the roads and can be compared to the existing group of sporty wagons.

General Motors will build hot-rod Cadillac CTS-V sport wagon

Entering the market for hot-rod station wagons, General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has confirmed to Car and Driver that it's going to build a 556-horsepower CTS-V version of the new Cadillac luxury hauler.

Interesting move. Doesn't cost GM much since it's a simple matter to drop the big engine into the new CTS sport wagon. It could claim some of the market still smarting over the demise of Chrysler's Dodge Magnum, which Drive On thinks history may judge as one of the coolest cars of all time. But a CTS-V wagon certainly won't add to GM's corporate fuel-economy luster:

C&D says the CTS-V sedan is a hot little performer, with a zero to 60 mile-per-hour burst in less than four seconds. And the wagon version of the CTS is a real head-turner. Developed from a European version, it first appeared at last year's Pebble Beach show. It could be a worthy design successor to Magnum. Now, Caddy's high-powered competition will be imports, starting with 580-hp Audi RS6 Avant.

The Next Volt Gets a Cadillac Badge

It’s official. Sort of. Cadillac is getting a Volt of its own. Word has it the stunning Converj concept car is slated for production as a series hybrid.

We’ve been hounding General Motors about this car ever since Vice Chairman Bob Lutz revealed it at the Detroit auto show earlier this year, and there have been rumors afoot about its impending production for awhile now. Now, according to the Detroit News, the concept’s been greenlighted. We have to wonder if Lutz wasn’t bending a few arms behind the scenes to make it happen.

The Converj uses the same technology and drivetrain layout as the Chevrolet Volt. The extended-range electric car not only will offer consumers some serious green cred and great mileage in an all-American brand but also put them miles beyond the Toyota Prius when it comes to style.

C’mon - just look at that car.

Maximum Bob with the Converj in Detroit.

The News, citing unnamed sources familiar with the General’s inner workings, says the Converj is as real as a heart attack. Cadillac officials are said to have presented the production plan to GM’s board of directors last week.

It’s no secret “Maxium” Bob Lutz has been a big supporter of the Converj, nor is it any secret that what Lutz wants, Lutz pretty much gets. He’s said the production model would look similar to the concept pictured above. The show car was bold and striking, like something from Giorgetto Giugiaro, not Detroit. It’s as sexy as the Volt is mainstream. Sultry sheet metal aside, though, the two cars probably will be essentially the same.

“The car still is slated to share much of its drivetrain with the upcoming Chevrolet Volt,” according to the perennially perky Motor Trend. Others, including unnamed GM insiders, echo that claim. If so, look for a 1.4-liter four-banger up front and a big honkin’ lithium-ion battery pack providing juice to an electric motor. It should have the same 40 mile range before the gasoline engine kicks in to drive a generator that will keep the electric motor turning.

Still, we’re talking about Cadillac, so look for some upscale touches.

Slapping a Cadillac badge on a Chevrolet Volt is a smart move because it will help the General recoup some of the money it’s spent developing the innovative drivetrain — when we drove a Volt mule, GM told us it’s sunk close to a billion dollars into the Volt. The margins are, after all, much higher on a premium marque than a Chevy.

Cadillac Converj Smart Extension of Vol

Cadillac Converj It stole the show at last year's auto show. Now the Cadillac Converj is getting the green light from General Motors. This is not only a smart move that could pay off over time for GM, but it also shows how far the auto maker has come in moving quicker when it comes to taking new models from concept to production. This does not mean the Converj will be a slam-dunk, guaranteed winner. Still, I like the move.

First, the Converj will leverage the technology that will go into the extended range electric Chevy Volt. This accomplishes two things. First, it gives GM another model line to make money off the Volt tech. GM has spent more than $1 Billion researching and developing the electric car technology. It needs to recoup that investment and it will do that quicker selling an electric Caddy. GM will be able to charge more for an electric Caddy than it will be able to with an electric Chevy. Enough said.

Second, the Converj has the look and appeal that should attract buyers, especially if the production model winds up being anywhere close to the concept we saw at the Detroit Auto Show (See below). The exterior is aggressive, sleek and a solid design extension of where GM wants to take Cadillac. The interior, with an instrument panel that looks like something out of a jet cockpit, generated immense buzz with auto critics. And for good reason.

But with all that said, you should temper your enthusiasm for the Converj. It won't be in showrooms until 2013 and between now and then a lot could and likely will change. Remember how much the Volt changed between concept and production model? Much of that was because tests in the wind tunnel showed the original Volt design was not aero dynamic enough to help it hit fuel efficiency targets. I fully expect the production Converj to be far different than what we've seen so far.

2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

Sport wagons combine nearly all the velocity and road-grabbing craftiness of a proper sport sedan with the family-friendly utility of a SUV/crossover. The Cadillac CTS Wagon provides about 25 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats (double the trunk space of the sedan version). With the seats down, the interior space expands to a generous 57 cubic feet. (General Motors)

Cadillac SRX offers the creature comforts

Cadillac's redesigned 2010 SRX crossover arrived recently at American Chevrolet Cadillac of Muncie. Numerous high-tech features, as well as a comfortable and aesthetically-appealing interior, make the new SRX a luxurious and versatile vehicle, according to Jama Pippin, assistant sales manager at the dealership. Complete specifications and pricing information for the SRX and all other Cadillac models is available at driveamerican.com and at Cars.com. (Ken Wickliffe / The Star Press)

2010 Cadillac SRX

Base price range: $33,330 -- $47,540

Warranty: Five years/100,000 miles (powertrain, roadside assistance, courtesy transportation); four years/50,000 miles (bumper-to-bumper)

Fuel economy: 18 city/25 highway (front-drive); 17 city/23 highway (all-wheel drive)

Engines: Three-liter V6 with 265 horsepower; 2.8-liter turbocharged V6 with 300 horsepower

Transmission: six-speed automatic

Safety features: Driver and passenger front airbags, thorax frontal side-impact airbags, front and rear head-curtain airbags, four-wheel antilock disc brakes, tire pressure monitoring system, traction control, StabiliTrak stability control, OnStar (standard)

"The interior of the SRX is exceptionally appealing, with attractive colors and many creature comforts," said Jama Pippin, assistant sales manager at American Chevrolet Cadillac. "It's geared toward individuals and families who want a crossover that's both practical and luxurious."

High-tech electronics are behind many of the SRX's features, she said, citing adaptive forward headlamps that swivel to illuminate the road ahead in a curve and a navigation system with a pop-up screen and three-dimensional imaging. A hard disk drive linked to the Bose audio system can offer onboard storage of a music library, Pippin added, and the video display for the SRX's available rearview camera draws an onscreen diagram to illustrate the vehicle's expected path of travel while backing up.

Seats in the SRX adjust to fit people of all sizes, and optional power-adjustable pedals move forward or backward to let shorter drivers get comfortable without sitting too close to the steering wheel, Pippin said.

"As a short-legged person myself, I like the adjustable pedals because they allow me to sit back a safe distance from the airbag," she explained. "At the same time, taller people, like my husband, can have plenty of room to stretch their legs."

The SRX's design theme, which Cadillac calls "Art and Science," resembles that of other vehicles in the lineup, according to Clay Dean, global design director for Cadillac.

"As with the 2008 CTS, we advanced our Art and Science design to create a crossover for style-conscious customers," he said in a press release. "The exterior features a dramatic diving gesture on the body side to impart the feeling of movement, even at rest."

VSR concept the Cadillac

Take a huge engine and drop it in a basic chassis. The VSR follows the classic hot rod formula to a tee.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

Cadillac and General Motors have unveiled the VSR Cadillac V-Series Powered Sports Rod Concept, or VSR for short, at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. What's the VSR concept, you ask? Well, according to GM:

"This concept features a contemporary hand-sculpted body and unique blend of Cadillac styling cues, with proportions and form that evoke images of earlier days of race cars/sports cars and 'Hot Rodding.' Race car engineering, state-of-the-art electronics and technology express the modern supercar era."

That means that GM had taken a lightweight and stripped-down aluminum hot rod chassis and slapped a thoroughly modern 6-liter, 400-horsepower Cadillac V-8 engine under its clamshell hood. This engine is probably a close relative to the 6.2-liter mill that powers the CTS-V. It transmits its power and torque through an automatic transmission to a pair of meaty, 22-inch rear wheels shod in TOYO Proxes S/T tires.