Auto News 5

Occasionally automakers ask members of the press what direction to take future products. The response is something like, "We need at least 500 hp, rear-wheel drive, a six-speed manual transmission, lots of Alcantara, and a station wagon body to hold it all." Normally automakers get this type of feedback and literally laugh out loud. Cadillac decided to build one.

DETROIT TO PARIS
Charles de Gaulle airport is a confusing mess, but I forgive it its trespasses because it is, after all, the portal to Paris, one of my favorite cities in the world. On this particular day, having arrived on Air France's overnight flight from Detroit, I am even more keen than usual to arrive in the City of Light. That's because, rather than taking the dreary RER commuter train into the city center, I will be at the wheel of a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V coupe. Hanspeter Ryser, Cadillac's Zurich-based European PR head, meets me in baggage claim and escorts me to an underground parking structure. "I think it's in aisle 20," he says as we stroll through the low-ceilinged space. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. One glance down the row of tightly packed Renaults and Peugeots in aisle 20 is all it takes to spy the distinctly chiseled, high rump of the big red coupe from Detroit. Ryser pops the trunk lid and points out a thick dossier under the trunk floor that will come in handy should any authorities question the Michigan license plates. He apologizes for the navigation system, which is still dialed in for America rather than Continental Europe, hands me the keys, and wishes me well. This Caddy is mine!

Once upon a time, before globalism became a favorite buzzword, cars really said something about the countries that produced them. The frugality and reliability of a Honda subcompact spoke to the ingenuity and determination of post-war Japan. The power and size of a tail-finned Cadillac convertible embodied American swagger. And so on. The automobile used to be as much an expression of culture as a country's art or food.

This is about as close to driving nirvana as semi-affordable cars venture. The powertrain, chassis, and operator interfaces are honed to near perfection. The 2+2 accommodations are functionally useful, the trunk is amply sized and well proportioned. Searching diligently, I did find a trivial flaw: the left-front floor mat that had torn free of its attachments to foul the clutch pedal at the bottom of its travel. As a service to my fellow critics, I repaired that fault with an expeditious driveway correction. Nevertheless, as much as I respect this and most other BMWs, I'd give serious thought to Cadillac's new CTS coupe before I spent $40,000 for a 335i.