Top-of-the-line components of being at Monterey Automotive Week is simply driving across the peninsula and carspotting. You’ll see all the pieces from Ferrari 250 GTOs and unrestored pre-war Bugattis to model new hypercars and one-off ideas casually sitting in site visitors or in parking heaps. It’s actually unimaginable. However this yr, the automobile I noticed that had me essentially the most excited was a metallic yellow electrical Cadillac.
I used to be driving by way of Pebble Seaside with a pal after we handed by a car parking zone hooked up to some sports activities fields, the place this Cyber Yellow Celestiq was sitting within the shade beneath some bushes. I yelped and pulled a completely authorized U-turn so I may park and test it out, and fortuitously the motive force, a member of the Common Motors design staff, graciously opened the automobile up and chatted with us about it.
I’ve been obsessive about the Celestiq since the near-production prototype was unveiled in 2022. I simply assume it’s an outstanding piece of design, particularly after recognizing a brilliant crimson one (with a white and blue inside!) in my resort valet at Automotive Week final yr, the primary time I had seen one in individual. Many individuals say the Celestiq simply seems like a stretched Lyriq — that’s simply how a design language works, guys — however in individual you’d by no means mistake one for the opposite. The Celestiq is big, about half a foot longer than an Escalade, and it has dramatic proportions and exaggerated lights and particulars. I like that lengthy rear overhang, fastback form and glass hatch; the entire thing has whole French vibes. The drama is enhanced by an outrageous colour like this metallic yellow, although the Celestiq additionally seems nice in darker, classier shades.
Sadly, this Celestiq had a really tame inside, with black leather-based and accents of aluminum and heat matte-finish wooden. I feel the cabin nonetheless seems fairly particular even on this fundamental spec, but it surely’s a lot better suited to a brighter colour scheme with extra distinction. You really want the screens to be on to get the total impact, too. However whilst a prototype in a less-than-ideal spec and setting, all of it seems very nicely completed.
The Celestiq additionally sounds very cool. I’m all for EVs getting synthetic noises, whether or not they be aping an inside combustion motor or a sci-fi spaceship, and at low speeds the Celestiq emits a pedestrian-warning sound that’s distinct and recognizable. It’s sort of like a sound tub, or a frequency made by a theremin, and I feel it fits the design ethos of the automobile nicely.
Sadly, I’ve solely seen this yellow one and that crimson one final yr, regardless of Cadillac having practically half a dozen driving round Monterey this yr and others getting proven off at varied occasions over the previous few years. Earlier in the summertime I missed a neon inexperienced check automobile in downtown Detroit by 5 minutes, and that data practically ruined my journey. It’s laborious to think about the final new automobile that I’ve yearned to identify this a lot.
As soon as deliveries of the $340,000 Celestiq begin later this yr, it’ll stay a uncommon sight, although hopefully dwelling near Beverly Hills I’ll see greater than most individuals. Cadillac says it might probably solely hand-build a pair Celestiqs per day at its Technical Heart in Warren, Michigan, figuring out to just some hundred every year. Every one might be completely bespoke when it comes to spec, too. For example of the customization potential, one buyer, an expert athlete, had their participant quantity engraved all through the automobile, in accordance with Automotive and Driver. And earlier than you say “who’s gonna spend that a lot on an costly electrical Cadillac,” the primary 18 months of manufacturing had been already offered out by the top of 2022.
Again within the Nineteen Fifties by way of the ‘70s, Cadillac was recognized for gigantic, ostentatious vehicles like the enduring Eldorado Biarritz, which was slathered in chrome and wild design components like tail fins and rocket-esque bumpers. The 1959 Biarritz price $7,401 when new, virtually 4 occasions the common price of a brand new automobile that yr. I see the Celestiq as being in the identical vein as these classics. It’s massive, it’s controversial, it’s costly, it’s showy, it’s not possible to mistake for anything — therefore why Cadillac introduced again its Goddess mascot for the automobile. Certain, I want Cadillac would have made vehicles like the Sixteen and Ciel, however we ought to be completely satisfied the Celestiq exists. It’s an idea made actual, precisely the kind of flagship that I feel Cadillac wants.
The Celestiq isn’t the one such flagship car that Cadillac is engaged on, both. At Automotive Week it unveiled the Sollei, a two-door convertible based mostly on the Celestiq with an inside constructed from mushrooms. Whereas billed as only a idea, it seems like Cadillac may simply put it into manufacturing — one of many advantages of utilizing a skateboard EV platform. Past simply with the ability to, it looks like Cadillac desires to start out promoting limited-run vehicles just like the Sollei, as evidenced by it being introduced across the peninsula to impress potential patrons. One morning, it was proudly parked in my resort’s valet, getting simply as a lot consideration because the Bugattis throughout from it.
