8 Reasons the 2004-7 CTS-V is a Future Classic
The CTS-V came out of nowhere and proved once and for all that Cadillac was no longer making pillow topped lounge-mobiles for old people to drive slowly from the assisted living facility to Shoney's. These cars had an impact way beyond their production numbers.
1. Return to RWD
In 2003, when the Cadillac CTS premiered, the company was no longer "The Standard of the World" and had not been in some time. There is not enough room here to go into all the the bad things that brought Cadillac from its pinnacle of 1960s quality, but there are many. By the dawn of the 21st century the only real good thing at Cadillac was the Northstar motor, and that was handicapped by the front wheel drive cars it was trapped in, and a 100k mile half life. The regular CTS in 2003 introduced the all new Cadillac rear wheel drive Sigma platform, and the ears of every driving enthusiast suddenly pricked up.
2. LS6 V8 Power
The Northstar was good at delivering smooth quiet power, but for a attention grabbing performance car like the CTV-V you needed more than that. An LS6 V8 was taken from the Corvette parts bin and given a Cadillac makeover before being dropped into the CTS-V in the place of the merely adequate 3.6 liter V6. Now you had a luxury sports sedan with 400 horsepower that sounded like a Corvette when you stood on the gas.
3. No Automatic for the People
Even for performance cars, or cars with sporting pretensions, the take rate for manual transmissions is usually small. The bean counters in the accounting department typically get their way when they insist engineering fit and automatic transmission as an option, even if it means dialing back the power levels. In a rare case of the engineers overruling the money guys at GM, the CTS-V only was offered with a 6-speed manual. If you don't know how to drive a 3-pedal car, you were out of luck.
4. The First V-Series Cadillac
There is always a first for everything, and it might not seem that great when compared to what eventually comes, but it is the first and therefore special. The 2004 CTS-V is the first of the amazingly fast and competent Cadillac V-series cars, and it will always be special, no matter what else they make.
5. Rare Beast
The first generation CTS-V was not only the first of its kind, and a great performer, but it is rare as well. Of all the millions of cars GM sold from 2004-07, they only made about 8,800 Cadillac CTS-V sport sedans. Pretty much all of the 2004 and 2005 cars are the same, with just minor variations in the options installed. In 2006 and 2007 the motor went from a 5.7 liter to a full 6.0 liter, but the peak horsepower and torque ratings remained the same.
6. Racing Pedigree
Cadillac got heavily back into motorsports in the 21st century, trying to prove to the world that they were not just fancy Chevrolets. In 2000 they returned to LeMans and other endurance racing with the Northstar LMP prototype cars, and continued with some successes until 2002. With the CTS-V they decided to race a series that would show off the stock body work and the competence of the basic factory car. According to GM, the SCCA Pro CTS-V racers were about 75% stock Cadillac parts, by weight, and they managed to win the manufacturers championship in 2005 and 2007.
7. Timeless Styling
Though Jeremy Clarkson once quipped that the Cadillac "was designed by a man with naught but a ruler," there is actually quite an elegance to the lines on this car. Even at more than 10 years old, the original CTS-V looks great, with no styling flourishes that will make it look old any time soon. Some cars look old the minute they roll off the lot, but Cadillac's styling language as used on theses CTS sedans has an understated elegance that ages well.
8. Practical Classic
We'd all love to own and drive a pre-war Cadillac V16, or a 1976 Eldorado convertible, but those cars are huge, hard to maintain and not very well adapted to modern traffic. A CTS-V is small enough for most garages and not at all hard to park. The fuel injected LS motor should give plenty of power for a quarter million miles or more, and the brakes and handling are better than most cars on the road, even 12 years later. You can fit 4, or even 5 people inside and the trunk is more useful than the reborn Camaro, so it just begs to be taken on long road trips.
If you have an LS powered car, or are fitting LS power to a classic, check the how-to section of LS1Tech.com for help.