RE: Cadillac CTS | Shed of the Week

RE: Cadillac CTS | Shed of the Week

Friday 29th November

Cadillac CTS | Shed of the Week

Cadillac is primed to enter Formula 1 from 2026. Remember the last time it tried to conquer the world?


It’s a little-known fact that Shed has massive forearms. He puts that down to the hard physical labour he does in the workshop. Mrs Shed however says it’s because he spends too much time polishing his trumpet. While we’re on the subject of the TV series Phoenix Nights, Northern nightclub owner Brian Potter once proudly referred to his 1979 Cadillac Sedan DeVille as his pension, the joke there being that investable Cadillacs haven’t been made since the ‘60s – and that’s being generous.  

In an effort to reset the well-established European view of Cadillacs as mobile skips, GM began a determined programme of improvements in the ‘90s that was designed to demonstrate their ability to build cars capable of competing with the best stuff from this side of the Atlantic. That involved downsizing to cars that were slightly smaller than the average aircraft carrier and a corporate acceptance that four-valve heads maybe did come with certain benefits. 

Designed by Wayne Cherry of Vauxhall Cavalier and Calibra fame, the CTS of 2004 was Cadillac’s brave new challenger for the BMW 5 Series. They didn’t quite win that challenge. Shed thinks the CTS was withdrawn from UK service in 2008, but the fact is that they sold a bushel of them in the US over a 15-year production run that didn’t end until 2019, so it can’t have been all that bad. And nor was it. Contemporary UK road test writers who were expecting to knock out a quick slag-off piece on the CTS before nipping over to the boozer for a few lunchtime tinctures were forced to admit that it was actually not quite as terrible as they were expecting it to be. 

The CTS of choice of course was the rortmungous Corvette ZR1-engined CTS-V. With 556hp from its 6.2-litre supercharged V8 it was an absolute weapon. In the right hands, or feet, it could smoke its way through the 0-60 in under four seconds. It handled well too thanks to rear-wheel drive, magnetic dampers, stiff springs and decent steering. At one time it held the Nürburgring record for production saloons with a sub-8 minute lap. The six-speed auto wasn’t that great but you could have it with a manual, which to be honest was also not that great. Shame really, who knows what it might have achieved with something like a ZF 8HP70 bolted to it.  

The V now holds classic status. There were none for sale in the UK as we went to press, which isn’t that surprising as it was expensive in 2009 (£59k) and it came in left-hand drive only. The Vs that Shed found in Europe and the US were up for big money, with very few below £20k and most being priced at well over £50k. A Finnish 2018 car with 30,000 miles was up for over £100k. Even 3.2 V6s aren’t cheap in Europe, rarely starting below £10k and often being considerably more than that. 

In light of all that, our £1,950 shed must surely be seen as a bargain. Unlike the V, the regular CTS came to the UK with the steering wheel on the right side. The 255hp/252lb ft multiport-injection LY7 V6 was smooth enough and sounded great if you took it to 7,000rpm in Sport mode. Its reliability record over the years has been good too. 

Cadillac still has a presence in the UK, supposedly. The UK website suggests that they’re still offering servicing and therefore parts for cars like our CTS, but after ten minutes of banging (on his keyboard) Shed failed to find a single official service location in the UK, or indeed anywhere east of New York, on their online finder tool. Shed does know from his own brain that Ian Allan in Virginia Water is a Cadillac dealer. The only new car you can apparently buy from them is the XT4, a compact SUV powered by a choice of 2.0 petrol or diesel engines. The Allan website says it costs 99,000 euros, but that must surely be a typo or a misread by Shed. 

Whatever, the XT4 won’t be around much longer as GM is turning its attention to a replacement for the Chevrolet Bolt EV. There are quite a few parts suppliers in the UK, so with the cooperation of clued-up owners on Caddy forums and a willing back-street fixer you should be able to keep your CTS running without too much trouble. The last MOT on this 82,000-miler was done in October. It suggests a pair of front brake discs and a pair of front tyres will be required. There’s some scuffing to the offside rear but there’s been no mention of rust anywhere in the MOT history. It was registered in January 2006 so it should fall into the phantom vehicle duty zone ‘K*’ which, if Shed is correct (unlikely) would put the annual tax ar £415.  

Things to look out for? Timing chains could give trouble, especially if you’re less than diligent on oil changes (PCV valves can clog up), but that generally doesn’t become an issue until the 120,000 mile mark in the 3.6s. Wheel bearings and suspension arms will be commonly consumed. Shed can’t see if this car has a sunroof. Hopefully not, as the drains could get blocked causing the usual electrical mayhem. Mrs Shed can tell you all about the fun she’s had with her Volvo XC60 in that regard if you’re interested and, ideally, extremely brave.


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Author
Discussion

Robigus

Original Poster:

60 posts

240 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
No thank you.

Unless it’s £200 and I’m driving to Sicily for a bet, where I can leave it.

GianiCakes

333 posts

81 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Is that centre console supposed to be skewed like that, or is it just the pic? Not the most convincing driver orientated cockpit I’ve seen. I don’t mind the exterior of these though.

Bill

54,369 posts

263 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Epic shed! The rarity has appeal, it looks ok and there's a frisson of risk re parts.

el romeral

1,292 posts

145 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Looks like a fair bit of shed for the money and likely cruises along pretty well with the big 3,6 liter engine. The speedometer looks woefully optimistic though, and goes all the way up to 260 mph! I wonder if they just recalibrated a kph speedometer?

chirurgus

205 posts

224 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
On face value, it appears to be a brisk enough shed with reasonable internal space and a bland exterior. I expect it would make for perfectly comfortable transport. It’s made better by the fact that most people would have no idea what it is, so rendering it anonymous.

Shed appears to have two facets to his personality - the cheeky side when he’s availing himself of the services of the postmistress, and a rather dour side when he’s not. This week’s literary offering came from the latter.

-crookedtail-

1,579 posts

198 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
At first glance I mistakenly thought this was the Saab 9-3 derived one, the BLS was that?

I genuinely had no idea they made these CTS in RHD!

Rare beast but not for me

PSB1967

308 posts

164 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Something completely different. Not for me but I like to have a choice. Thanks for the write up and Friday morning chuckle, Tony.


CoupeKid

814 posts

73 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
This is the second reference to Mrs Shed's XC60 sunroof.

I presume Mr Middlehurst is having a problem with one in real life and takes advantage of his weekly column to get a dig in at Volvo when he can.

The advantage of ultra rare cars like this is that nobody really knows if you paid shed money for it or if it is indeed a pension.

Fishy Dave

1,065 posts

253 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
I like it, it's different. Parts availability will be excellent through Rockauto. I get most things through from the States to UK in two or 3 days.

Bobupndown

2,162 posts

51 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Too much time polishing his trumpet.
biglaugh

Think I'll pass on this shed.

POIDH

1,074 posts

73 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Can Shedders be choosers? From a functional point of view it's a comfy badge with few issues on a modest budget.
But I think I would rather take the Toyota IQ of Shed corner than this if pressed.

cerb4.5lee

33,798 posts

188 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
I don't know much about these, but I do always remember the fast one with the 6.2 V8 in it though. smokin

A very enjoyable write up as usual thanks Mr Shed too. thumbup

DaveyBoyWonder

2,776 posts

182 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
"Cadillac’s brave new challenger for the BMW 5 Series. They didn’t quite win that challenge"

Understatement of the century.

Awful in every way. No ta.

AC43

12,024 posts

216 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
One of these has recently appeared near me and I've been scratching my head trying and failing to remember the model.

IIRC these were part of one of those "US cars are going to succeed in the UK" initiatives that happen now and again and always fail. I seem to remember lots of hullabaloo and a showroom on Park Lane. Then not a lot.

Hairymonster

1,528 posts

113 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
el romeral said:
The speedometer looks woefully optimistic though, and goes all the way up to 260 mph! I wonder if they just recalibrated a kph speedometer?
That's exactly what it was.

el romeral

1,292 posts

145 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Hairymonster said:
el romeral said:
The speedometer looks woefully optimistic though, and goes all the way up to 260 mph! I wonder if they just recalibrated a kph speedometer?
That's exactly what it was.
thumbup

Watcher of the skies

686 posts

45 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
AC43 said:
One of these has recently appeared near me and I've been scratching my head trying and failing to remember the model.

IIRC these were part of one of those "US cars are going to succeed in the UK" initiatives that happen now and again and always fail. I seem to remember lots of hullabaloo and a showroom on Park Lane. Then not a lot.
Reminds me of Trump's recent whinge that Europe doesn't buy US cars. Why would we? Most Americans don't eitherlaugh

pSyCoSiS

3,743 posts

213 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Not a bad Shed, not really my cup of tea. I prefer the bigger (STS) Cadillac.

It is something different, however. And you won't hear many people saying that they drive a Cadillac!

Cryssys

563 posts

46 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
And the winner of the award for the car with the ugliest headlights ever is...

Rear lights are bloody awful too. What were they thinking?

AC43

12,024 posts

216 months

Friday 29th November
quotequote all
Watcher of the skies said:
AC43 said:
One of these has recently appeared near me and I've been scratching my head trying and failing to remember the model.

IIRC these were part of one of those "US cars are going to succeed in the UK" initiatives that happen now and again and always fail. I seem to remember lots of hullabaloo and a showroom on Park Lane. Then not a lot.
Reminds me of Trump's recent whinge that Europe doesn't buy US cars. Why would we? Most Americans don't eitherlaugh
Too true. I went to work on the East Coast in the early 90s and was expecting to be surrounded by lots of really interesting American metal. It turned the top selling car that year was something like a Mazda 626 or a Nissan Maxima. Really underwhelming.