You wouldn’t think that a man (or woman) who isn’t into driving cars would be a good fit as brand ambassador for a new luxury car priced accordingly, but Cadillac is asking you to give that man a chance.
Earlier this week, Cadillac formally introduced the 2024 Celestiq, a fully-electric land yacht that should mark the marque’s return to form – and to high-end luxury. Each vehicle, which is expected to go into production in December 2023, will start at $300,000 and be fully customizable, so that impressive figure is more of a guideline than anything. The idea is to have each Celestiq owner at the wheel of their dream Cadillac, because they would have the final say in the final design.
For starters, Cadillac got rock star Lenny Kravitz to design his own Celestiq. We don’t know yet how it might look, except for what is teased in the ad at the bottom of the page: it will be “dark and moody and tough [but] with classic, beautiful lines,” Lenny says in a voiceover.
It will be in keeping with the car’s tagline of “Meticulously crafted. Effortlessly iconic,” a call for the well-heeled customer to give American-made, handbuilt luxury a try. A combination of heritage and modern touches, harking back to the era when Cadillac was the instantly-recognizable symbol for status and style, but this time, upgraded for modern times and climate-change conditions.
Photo: Cadillac
Cadillac wants to make a comeback, but it has to be one that doesn’t burn a hole into the already damaged atmosphere of our planet, so it’s taking the luxury route. This isn’t a car for the masses, it’s a car for the people who can afford to go fully green, yet not lose an ounce of the eccentricity afforded to them by their bank account. Still, the task at hand is a difficult one. It’s ironic then that they chose a man who hasn’t driven a car in the 15 years he’s lived in Paris to shill for them.
Lenny Kravitz, as he admits himself in a recent Vanity Fair coverstory, is not much of a car guy – at least, not in the sense most celebrities are, buying the latest releases and packing his garages with them. He had a phase in his life, back in the ‘90s, when he’d drive “celebrity” cars like Ferraris and Mustangs, Rolls-Royces and G-Wagens, but he’s mostly a classics guy. He prefers the elegant lines, the simple and reliable handling of a classic. He loves beat-up s**tboxes (we’re paraphrasing) that he can fix up, whether they’re Bugs, WV vans or Jeeps.
Lenny Kravitz is also a passionate motorcycle rider. He’s been living in Paris for 15 years, and he hasn’t driven a car once while there, because he prefers to ride on any of his Triumph Bonnevilles.
The irony of the pairing between Kravitz and Cadillac isn’t the fact that they chose him for a brand ambassador when he’s not the standard car guy, but that this partnership will work despite the fact. Lenny Kravitz might not be much of a car guy, but he is, without a doubt, the king of cool. He is the man who made heeled boots on men cool – and scarves, layered clothing, all-leather outfits and heavy knits, and wearing shades at night, like he does in the ad. If there’s anything Kravitz can sell that is not music or his own beauty products and perfume endorsement deals, it’s probably a very expensive and very fancy car, which also happens to be a stand-out EV.
So when Kravitz says he finds the gorgeous heritage of old Cadillacs in the Celestiq, we have no choice (for now) but to take him at his word. He plans to make his one-of-one Celestiq his “nighttime vehicle” in Paris, because he’s mostly a night creature. It will be his silent chariot through the City of Lights – we’re paraphrasing again – and he will make sure to drive it only to places where he can park it up front. That last part is probably part of his endorsement deal, but he does seem genuinely invested in creating a Cadillac that recalls the old-timers his grandfather used to drive him around Los Angeles in.
Photo: Cadillac
To be sure, Kravitz doesn’t live only in Paris. He has homes in Miami, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and he keeps the few (prized) cars he owns here. The Celestiq will be exclusively his French ride, and he’s designed it to be a match for his four-level home in the city’s 16th arrondissement, with “exotic woods with strong patterns, mixed with colors like camels and chocolates and caramels,” and an exterior paintjob that will “look sort of black in the dark, but it’s really a rich brown with a little bit of metal flake. A little bit of dimension.”
The choice for Kravitz as brand ambassador might seem strange, but the more he speaks, the more sense it makes. Cadillac wants and needs this artsy, moody, cool energy that Kravitz brings attached to the Celestiq.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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