I just saw the Cadillac Celestiq in person at a party at Monterey Car Week. This is a $340,000 electric sedan/hatchback that the entire internet pretty much wrote off as an overpriced Maybach wannabe. Who does Cadillac think it is charging that much for a car? The brand hasn’t been “The Standard of the World” in many decades. And while that last statement may be true, after seeing the Celestiq in person, I kinda get it. And I actually like it for Cadillac.
Last night I attended a party called “Motorlux.” I did not belong there, because, despite having “gone Hollywood” to some degree, I’m still a bit of a wrenching Midwesterner at my core. Still, it was a great time; Jason and I hit a dancefloor, hung out with Beau and ate some oysters, looked at amazing cars—it was fantastic. There were also planes and helicopters:
It was also my first chance to see the Cadillac Celestiq, a Bentley-grade electric luxury car from a brand that, frankly, has been a bit lost over the last few decades. It moved its headquarters to New York so it could be “hip” and “cool,” then moved it right back to Detroit; it’s been unsuccessfully trying to compete with BMW M-cars for years; and really, the only car on its roster that has any brand equity is the Escalade.
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Sixty years ago, Cadillac built its name on elegance, swagger, and comfort; these are what Cadillac always did best, and yet the brand hasn’t leaned into these attributes enough outside of the Escalade. And I think that’s a mistake. Realistically, Cadillac will never be The Standard of the World when it comes to handling/track performance, but it can be The Standard of the World in terms of comfort and flat-out swag. And I believe the Celestiq is the way to get there. Because it looks incredible in person:
The sheer size of this machine is staggering; it starts with the humongous hood, which flows into black, steeply-raked A-pillars that end at a flat-top black roof.
That roof extends to about the rear axle, where it grows a rear hatchback that drops incredibly gradually before eventually reaching a rear fascia that seems in an entirely different time zone than the front. Seriously, the C-pillar on this thing may be one of the largest one in automotive history:
Because of how long that sloping back is, the rear seats have to be positioned fairly far forward to allow for decent headroom. The result is that there really doesn’t appear to be a ton of legroom, which is a bit silly for a luxury sedan like this — a sedan whose primary focus isn’t on driving excitement but on comfort, especially for second-row passengers — but I really don’t think that matters that much. The legroom compromise is worth it for that look. Also, an advantage of the setup is an absurd amount of rear cargo space:
The interior looks incredible. Screens abound; there’s gorgeous accent lighting in the doors, roof, and damn near everywhere; the seats feature an awesome inlay pattern and speakers in the headrests. Take one look at the Celestiq’s cabin and it’s basically impossible not to be impressed:
I’m here at Pebble Beach waiting to watch classic cars go around a racetrack at the Monterey Historics event, so I have to cut this little blog short, but consider this a bit of a retraction. I didn’t understand the Celestiq before, but now that I’ve seen it, I get it and I dig it. Even if I’ll never be able to afford it.
An overwrought design! Duplicated lines that just scream overdone! The interior looks like a video arcade. If Las Vegas was. Car this would be it! Ridiculous!
I dunno why somebody doesn’t point out that a big smooth riding PHEV with the opulence of an old 1974 DeVille would have buyers. Hell, you could even use the same drive train as one of the trucks, as long as you did the suspension right.
I’m not a fan of basically anything for the super-rich as I would prefer to eat them, rather than watch them be chauffeured in this tribute to monstrous excess.
But if Cadillac is going to continue to exist at all, they may as well be developing this to offer as some sort of halo car. Selling a few hundred of these is mostly meant to buoy the rest of the brand, which seems to only be aspirational to very few at this point.
Escalades aside, Cadillac needs this. It’s nice to see GM finally build something after teasing a whole lot of concepts that they never pulled the trigger on.
Syd Mead’s Sentinel 400 Limo has entered the chat.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/8623402831_9211e81ea7_b.jpg – Absolutely.
I have multiple examples of the early 2000’s Hot Wheels release of that car. Really wish a richly-detailed 1/18th scale version with opening doors and such would get produced at some point.
I think the jury’s still out on this one. The GTD is objectively a stupid car for stupid money. But the Celestiq is not that. The Celestiq is a car that is looking to compete with actual cars from Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Where “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” is the norm.
The entry level price on the Ghost, the ‘bottom rung’ Rolls, is over $310k. The Celestiq wants to hang with the Wraith, which is $345k+. From the Bentley stable, it’d be the Flying Spur Mulliner – also around $340k. So the price is competitive, where buyers are not shopping on price even as a tertiary concern. But if it’s more expensive and lower quality, those buyers will absolutely notice and call it out. So the price for these cars, ultimately, is irrelevant outside of comparing between the three.
Where the challenge lies is that buyers of these cars generally are very, very much “I don’t like change” types. They want “tradition,” not far-flung futurism. They want solid oak, not six feet of screen. They want chrome plated steel, not brushed titanium alloys. They do not drive cars, they are chauffeured by young men wearing crisply pressed three piece suits and white gloves.
If you look at the interior of a 2023 Rolls-Royce and the interior of a 1963 Rolls-Royce, you can draw a very, very direct line between the two for nearly every interior design element and even much of the exterior. The same is true with Bentley.
Cadillac is quite literally coming out of left field, saying that with no history of it, they can compete on a level with companies that brag about employing not simply third generation woodcarvers, but third generation “specifically the guy who carves the dash panel. That’s all he does. Dash panels.”
And they’re doing it with an absolutely radical design. A very “nouveau riche” design that “pays no respect” to any sort of “heritage.” (Read as little or as much mockery into it as you like. That’s just how those buyers tend to think. When the same family’s been chrome-plating lug nuts by hand for the past 70 years, well.)
Personally, I’m on the fence about the styling. I don’t like the rear. I like the rest. I’d rather a longer roof for more rear leg room and a shorter hood. The proportioning ultimately feels awkward to me.
I do like the interior quite a lot. It’s not my cuppa, but, it doesn’t have to be. One, it’s literally bespoke. Celestiqs will allegedly be built to the customer’s exact specifications. So I can have my metallic green over saddle-hue buffalo and kidskin, in theory. (And yes, I am of the opinion many Rolls customers have zero taste there too.) Two, it’s unabashedly futuristic. It doesn’t attempt to be ‘retro-chiq’ or hide a dozen Easter eggs or reference the 1958 Cadillac Whatever 1-of-1 SuperLuxuryTouringDeluxemobile. It’s strictly forward looking.
But I’m also not the one they have to convince. They are going to have to convince people who want to pick the specific rosewood plank that will be used for the door panels and who will demand the entire car be rebuilt if a single stitch is incorrect.
I think at one time Cadillac targeted American Old Money, if you will pardon the oxymoron. That ship sailed with the Mayflower. The only market they have left other than their traditional buyers are the nouveau riche – tech bros, rappers, athletes, influencers, and the MyPillow style huckster entrepreneur. I think this is LOOK AT ME enough to work but it won’t work for long. If it takes more than a year to production, it is NSX level of stale.
As a halo product, I don’t think it works either, because it is a personal luxury car, a segment that lights no fire for anyone right now. It is a great styling exercise but could end up emblematic of great GM efforts of the past – a nice effort that misread the room.
They did, and they were in fact, somewhat successful. But they more specifically targeted generally well-to-do. If you bought a Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, there wasn’t any question you had made it. But you also weren’t the gauche asshole flaunting it. The 1953 Eldorado Brougham was $7750 ($85k!) but a 1952 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn cost £4704 (£111,675.42 or over $150k before import and taxes!)
The problem is that they don’t have the nouveau riche market either. They have ‘Escalade buyers.’ That’s it. Tech bros, rappers, athletes, fake influencers, grifters, what do they buy? Escalades. Escalades with 30″ wheels. Escalades with ‘armor.’ Escalades, Escalades, Escalades. Because “I WANT AN SUV BUT I WANT PRETENTIOUS SUV!”
But the real thing that drove the demographic age group wasn’t Escalades. It was cars like the ATS, the CTS-V, etcetera. Escalades are so ridiculously expensive, it’s wealthy assholes and boomers only. But the ATS4? Well shit son. They had it right next to the Buicks and the Camaros, it cost less, and it was markedly nicer inside. Then you get the CTS-V, which became the “poor man’s Corvette” for a time, and the ATS-V. People tuned into sportscars and sports sedans especially knew they were special, even if Cadillac fucked up the pricing. It still wasn’t BMW money, and it kicked BMW’s ass.
And if you couldn’t afford the full-fat CTS-V or the ATS-V, well hey. The less riotous ones were pretty nice inside and something you could afford.
That said, it’s not just a personal luxury car. It’s a convenient virtue signaling machine for the wealthy. “Look at how green I am,” they cry, “I drive a BEV,” as their chauffer takes them to the private helicopter that will take them to their private jet at the private airport. And they certainly don’t want to be seen in a Tesla for a long list of reasons, gods forbid a Chevy Bolt.
So if they can actually execute, I could definitely see them selling a dozen or two a year. Which is about what you expect with something like this.
The problem with Cadillac is that they had the ATS beside Camaros and Buicks. I went to a test drive event that our local GM dealer was doing. I wanted to test drive one. The salesman went “well someone else is driving it, but you can try out this Malibu! It’s got more room and it’s cheaper!”
I wouldn’t want to pick up a $300,000 car from a dealer that thinks everything is basically the same as a Malibu.
What he said.
Welp, I guess I’m firmly in the minority so far saying I absolutely, unabashedly, and unironically love this thing. I can’t comfortably afford a $30K car, so another 0 doesn’t really matter. Cadillacs have been my favorite cars since I was a kid and I’ve developed an attachment to the brand the same way normal people become attached to sports teams.
After watching this company release some amazing concepts over the years – the 16, the Elmiraj, the Ciel, even the Escala, etc., yet not coming out with some type of halo car to compete with the Rollers and Bentleys out there has been a bit frustrating. If Cadillac was ever to try and compete in that space, they needed to start somewhere and it appears they finally have.
I’ve been waiting to see the next ’57 Eldorado Brougham show up for quite some time and this looks like it could possibly fill that niche. Even Cadillac itself must think so since that’s the exact car it had Mr. Kravitz pull up in during the opening shot of the first commercial I saw for this.
As far as the design goes, I really do like it. I’ve always been a sucker for anything with a boattail or fastback-style design incorporated into it. That Cadillac’s new battery-op luxo-yacht kind of resembles a fattened-up and stretched-out Jensen Intercepter makes me smile. Can’t wait to see one in person.
Great to see Jason’s genuine excitement for the taillights – those are going to look great rendered in sushi. I have to agree with you, DT – “the right car for Cadillac right now”. Thanks for this update – it’s made my Friday! Now, get back to stuffing those oyster hors d’oeuvres into your blazer pockets on the dance floor.
I’m a decades long fan of Syd Mead style futuristic aesthetics and to my eyes the Celestiq is firmly positioned that family of design language. As others already stated, this aesthetic leans into the future. To me, this is a vehicle for someone who’s made it big with a quantum computer company instead of, say, the CEO of Lloyd’s of London. One other thing, I really, really wonder if Cadillac has presented the White House with a proposal to use the Celestiq as the basis for an update to “Cadillac One” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_state_car_(United_States) – longer, faster, armored, emp proof, etc, etc.
Yeah The Beast ain’t ever going EV that’s for sure. I’m just happy that they got the face updated to what it is now rather than the awful 2008 DTS look it had
I’m There with you – it’s an exciting and different car playing in what I think is probably more interesting a segment than HyperCard at this point. I of course love sports cars, but I just can’t really give a shit about whatever limited out of reach fast hyper at that looks the same as the last one that you’ll never see anyway. This class of vehicles is such a different beast, where you have such focus on design, craft, material and details. It’s very different and very fun.
I’m also quite into bringing Cadillac back to that very high end of the market. Seeing the presence of a 30s V16 is wonderful, and hell, even the brougham is a treat to experience.
I got into the Caddy game a few years ago with my ATS-V coupe because (not only does it drive terrifically with its 6spd manual transmission and great looks) I LOVED the Elmiraj concept and I figured this was about as close as I could get to ever owning that, or getting it made. I’m happy to just see that attempt happen to make those excellent concept cars a reality at long last.
Nah, you’re not alone. I’ve wanted it since the first press photos came out, and now I want one even more. Its incredible.
Will this have the range and athleticism necessary for a grand tourer? Based on GM shortchanging the rear leg room (which is something they’ve done for over a decade with their cars), that seems to be what it’s going for.
For $300k it damn well better come with a spare set of headlights and taillights. See XLR.
And a garage attached to a house.
I like the shape, but I also like the first generation Porsche Panamera.
I just cannot get over the C-pillar, same with the Lyriq.
Also, Cadillac should lean into their history and bring back tailfins. The “art & science” cars of the last couple of decades had taillights that stuck up just enough to be little fins, it’s time to bring back the real thing.
I would like to see tailfins on the Escalade. A modern version of something like a ’59 Caddy hearse, where the fins are truly pointless appendages rising up next to the body. I don’t think this is a particularly good idea or would help Cadillac out in any way, but I’d still like to see it. Perhaps I need to email The Bishop.
Is it good or bad for Cadillac as a brand? I really don’t care about Cadillac as a brand. The car itself, I think looks fantastic, I can’t wait to see one in person. It looks like it should fly, shouldn’t even have wheels. One of the coolest looking production vehicles I’ve seen in forever.
Cadillac needs something to change their image, so it will be good for the brand. Despite building competitive, dare I say really good cars for the past decade or so, most people with the funds to buy a Cadillac won’t even waste their time reading a review of one because it’s an “old people car” (despite currently having a lower average buyer age than Lexus or Mercedes).
That’s not to say everything they make is a class leader, but their sedans have been excellent for a while now, going back to the 2nd gen CTS and the ATS. The XT4/5/6 are thoroughly meh and that’s where they should be making all their money, but they dropped the ball.
The point is unless it’s an Escalade, nobody cares. Nobody knows what a CT4 or a Lyriq is. This is mostly their own fault for constantly changing naming strategies, but they need a car to grab peoples attention and make them say “I wonder what else Cadillac makes?”. A car so out there and lavish it’ll get spots on the local news saying “look at this friggin’ thing Cadillac made, they’re trying to compete with Rolls/Bentley”.
Cadillac as a brand has made almost exclusively expensive versions of junk Chevys for not just my entire life, but my parents’ entire lives.
Nobody cares about Cadillac as a brand.
I love how so many comments are crapping all over Cadillac for an ostentatious halo car at $300K+, but almost none of the comments over on the mustang GTD article seemed to think a $300K Mustang was anywhere near as absurd.
I think they both are absurd. Just saying.
I crapped on both
Bad dog!
I also think both are absurd. But I’m a little bit glad both types of absurdity exist.
The difference is the Mustang will be really good in Forza while the Cadillac would be terrible.
I think the difference is in whether it can actually deliver on what it was designed for. The GTD was designed to ostensibly be a performance car and the engineering sure points to it being able to deliver on that. The Cadillac is supposed to be a luxury head-turner and it has a cramped interior and the only heads turning are going to be to look away or retch into the nearest receptacle.
I still think both are pretty stupid.
As a shy and retiring British sort, I will take The Rolls Royce Spectre. In purple. It really is not the done thing to be to ostentatious these days.
Mondays Shitbox Showdown: Cadillac’s midsized home priced and sized electric pleasure barge vs Ford’s fully prepped track car for wealthy Granddad’s morning coffee run. You decide which absurdity gets your absurd amount of bucks!
Am I the only one seeing the SUX 6000 here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv4edOwe8eE
I’d buy that for a dollar.
It’s back! Big is back!
I saw a car I didn’t recognize at my local Cadillac dealership about a week ago. I didn’t get a very close look because I was driving but it had the same general shape as this. Is it possible that’s what it was? I’ve seen a Lucid at the same dealership so there’s a chance it was that, but I don’t think so.
Likely you saw the Lyric, as it brings many of the same styling cues in a much more accessible package.
Probably the Lyriq
Oh yeah, the Lyric. I forgot about those. I don’t pay much attention to crossovers and SUVs if I even notice them at all.
It’s Lyriq, with a Q. Cadillac’s bean counters found that Cs cost more than Qs, figured that they could save the company a few hundred dollars a year, and didn’t really care about how silly the name would be.
Either I or the people that green lit this monstrosity are way out of touch with reality.
Could be both.
Oh I don’t think this is gonna sell in high volumes. I just think: If you wanna be the standard of the world again, you gotta build the best. A true Halo car.
Whether this actually ends up being the best or really anywhere as good as it looks is TBD.
Cadillac and GM have produced so many great prototype show cars going back decades, that had way more presence, and they green lit this ?
Good luck getting one as a loaner… I don’t think they’re planning on making more than one per day at most
“despite having “gone Hollywood” to some degree”
LOL, to some degree?
He probably doesn’t even eat in the shower or wash parts in the dishwasher any more.
His mysterious “friend” may also have put the kibosh on cooking food in oil pans
It’s hot in Phoenix this summer to some degree, too.
David is so LA that even his kittens have people.
Typically cars at this price point seperate the “haves” from the “have-nots”.
So with the release of the Escalade IQ, which is $200k cheaper and has basically the same interior with more utility, why would anyone choose the Celestiq? Where is the differentiator? That special something that can only be had in this vehicle.
I’m not sure extra customization and Hyper Cruise (which GM hardly even talks about) is enough to justify that $200k premium
> why would anyone choose the Celestiq
Because it’s not an Escalade and because it’s pretty.
I have visited scores of countries all over the planet, so I’m pretty confident when I report that the world has pretty low standards. Cadillac has been living down to its slogan all along.
I wonder what the margins on $340,000 are
GM must have fed you many beverages to think they need a $300k car. Even more if they convinced you it’ll sell.
Side note, the rear end of it reminds me of a riff of a Porsche 928.
No drinks, but I can’t say with certainty that I wasn’t injected with a GM serum without my knowledge.
I just picture David at home, listening to Lenny Kravitz — who is the frontman for the Celestiq — and embedded in the music track, unknowingly to him, is the word “Cadillac” repeating by being intricately weaved into the background to get the brand to to bury itself in his sub consciousness.
It’s the car that Cadillac, and no one else, needs right now
Booooooo cars for the ultra wealthy booooooooooo
The wealthy got that way by NOT overspending on conspicuous consumption. This is for egocentric megalottery winners and Arab oil sheiks.
Want to get rich? You don’t get that way by spending. (Read “The Millionaire Next Door”.)
That has to be the ugliest cars I’ve ever seen in my life. It looks like a Mexican dance club from the 90’s on the inside and makes no sense to anybody but Homer Simpson.
The Mustang GTD says “hold my beer.”
I look at it more like a modern, technoladen, American Lamborghini Espada.
Like the Espada I certainly don’t love it, but I can appreciate it.
Tough to see in that last picture, but rear legroom seems…ok?
I don’t personally have any rear legs, but my dog’s all about that backseat space.
I was thinking the same thing…. It’s not a limo but it doesn’t look tight in the back either.