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 Shed thinks the CTS was withdrawn from UK service in 2008, but the fact is that they sold a bushel of them in the US over a 15-year production run that didn’t end until 2019, so it can’t have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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