In the early 70s, Cadillac meant one thing – success! Top-tier corporate executives, Hollywood stars, Wall Street big wigs, cigars, country clubs, and the finest bourbon. Two decades later, like most American vehicles, Cadillac was relegated to the bottom of the cesspit, tapering away in oblivion, unable to compete with its youthful foreign competition. It was a grandpa car, an auto shop frequent, and too slow to catch up to the 90s performance-hungry clientele.
They say tough times last as long as you let them. Cadillac, hungry for its past glory, plowed its way to the top of the American market. They introduced a great deal of exciting entries, including the Escalade, but one stood out. The Cadillac CTS-V station wagon. It was an outlier with a mission – to take out the Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMGWagon.
Forget the exterior styling. The CTS-V wagon came with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 capable of 556 hp (564 ps) and 551 lb-ft (747 Nm) of torque channeled to the rear wheels. Produced between 2011-2014 in limited numbers, it was a future collector's car that still stands out today.
Think about it. This is a station wagon with a supercharged LSA engine (same as the one in a Camaro ZL1), Recaro seats, electromagnetic suspension, Brembos, and the ability to sprint from naught to 60 mph (97kph) in 4-seconds. Come on! This wagon was literally begging for driver-subjugation.
Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage YouTube channel recently got one with automatic transmission for a fair price of under $30,000 – but not without a bit of boo boo. According to him, this was the last unit to sell for that price.
"There were a few years afterwards where these were just normal cheap used cars, and then people started recognizing how special they were, and prices have gone up and up and up," Hoover disclosed.
His recently acquired CTS-V station wagon, with 67,000 miles (107,000 kilometers) on the odometer, might have been cheap, but it had a salvage title. Pictures from the accident showed it had been side-swiped on the left, and both doors were missing.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/Hoovies Garage
On the interior, the dashboard and front seats were missing. It was a total mess. Six months later, it showed up again and was completely fixed this time.
According to Hoover, the manual version of the CTS-V wagon sells for as much as $100,000 in the used-car market. Automatic transmission versions go for $50,000 to $60,000 with low mileage.
The Car Wizard, Hoover's trusted mechanic, also got to inspect his salvage title CTS-V wagon and gave it a clean bill of health. Hoover's looking to make it faster.
Do you think the Cadillac CTS-V is heading to be a future classic? Share your opinion in the comment section. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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