End of the Line: Cadillac Introduces 2019 V-Series Pedestal Editions
GM’s snazziest brand may have vacated the Big Apple in a New York minute, but that doesn’t mean they’re taking a break on research and development. It’s been 15 years since the marque appended the consonant “V” onto trunklids of its fastest sedans, so the company is rolling out a new trim to mark the occasion.
The 2019 ATS-V and CTS-V will be endowed with a limited run of these Pedestal Editions. While Pedestal may not have the same gravitas as Talisman, these new whips do a dandy job of cranking the wick to eleven.
Car spotters take note: these cars will be slathered in an all-new exterior color called Bronze Sand Metallic, accented with black chrome trim and grille. Those V-Series light-alloy wheels look the business, from behind which peek a set of red Brembo-branded brake calipers. Its front lip, rear spoiler, and a couple of other exterior items are hewn from carbon fiber.
GM added more than just a few strips of leather to the interior of these Pedestal cars, choosing to bolt a pair of Recaro seats to give both driver and front-seat passenger a pedestal of their own (hey, I’m at an age where I am allowed to make Dad jokes). The bronze theme continues inside, with that hue threaded through the dash and door trim.
Taking a page from Corvette’s playbook, a fully-integrated Performance Data Recorder video-data system is on board, complete with driver analysis software that can tell you just how much of a bus ride you could’ve taken to that last apex. A rear-camera mirror appears only on the CTS-V, presumably thanks to the lack of hardware for such a device on its little brother.
Cadillac built the first V in 2004 using the CTS and its “Art & Science” styling, a look that was quite remarkable at the time. Looking ahead, Cadillac says it will release a CT6-V sedan sometime in 2019. That car will allegedly make somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 horsepower thanks to the Blackwing twin-turbo V8.
In total, 300 Pedestal Editions will be built for a trio of markets – America, Canada, and the Middle East. Company reps say final allocation for each region is unclear right now. Prepare to shell out $77,090 for the ATS-V and $102,590 CTS-V Pedestal Editions. That sum will also next buyers two days worth of classes and instruction at Cadillac’s V-Performance Academy in Spring Mountain.
[Image: General Motors]
Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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The CTS-V is the only model from that brand I would be interested in. That said, if I were given one of these the first thing I would do is a vinyl wrap and some not black/dark wheels.
My CTS-V is 6 weeks old now and not even broken in yet. The LT4 has a 1500 mi break-in period. It feels luxurious and quiet when I want it to be and a crazy, grin inducing beast when the road is wide open. I skipped the carbon fiber package as the rear spoiler looks tacked on and out of place and does little to nothing to improve performance. Besides that, I like to fly under the radar (as much as possible at least). Is the interior worthy of a 100k car? Probably not but I paid 79k for mine and I like it just fine. As for these special editions, meh. That color is horrible and I like a nice brown. Maybe it'll be better in person. They should have made it a nice dark green IMO. I was never a fan of black wheels either but these look great (when they're clean at least) against my white V, on this brown (er, bronze) not so much. They're actually a dark charcoal though it's hard to tell from the pics. I've never been much of a GM fan but I needed something to replace my totaled SS and I like the Caddy better than another Charger (I had 2). They got this one right.