Inside the Cadillac Ciel. A Vision We Hope Cadillac Executes. Do You?

“Every time Mercedes sells a $100,000 S-Class it’s a knife in Cadillac’s eye!” I slurred at Don Butler, Cadillac’s head of marketing. It was late night, after the launch of the Caddy CTS Coupe and we were — how to put this professionally — deep into our cups. Co-host of The Car Show Dan Neil and yours truly were (loudly) explaining to the boys from Cadillac that the new CTS Coupe is nice, but not enough. “I promise you!” Don pleaded with us. “I’m telling you guys. We’ve got something coming. Something special. I can’t say what it is, but it’s above the XTS. A flagship. I promise you.” Well, speaking for Dan and me, we had our doubts.

Well-founded doubts, of course. This is the same GM, after all, that has just emerged from federally-mandated bankruptcy. But more than that, this was Cadillac, and Cadillac can’t compete with the Germans. Not with Mercedes-Benz, not with the S-Class. Remember the movie Donnie Brasco? If you don’t, or if you’ve never seen it, the film starts with Lefty (Al Pacino) telling Nicky (Bruno Kirby) why Cadillacs are better than Lincolns. “Ain’t no comparison. Cadillac got more acceleration, more power, more better handling, better looking, more legroom for your legs, more power,” and on and on. After a bit, future boss Sonny Black (Michael Madsen) butts in and says, “What the @&%$ are you two talking about? Mercedes got it all over them.” And that scene’s set in 1978! Sonny’s view has held sway in the luxury car realm ever since.
Meet the new Cadillac Ciel concept and well Mr. Butler, you kept your promise. Knockout. Stunning. Homerun. Beauty. Triumph. Gorgeous. Those are just some of the words I heard used to describe the Ciel (pronounced see-elle, or CL) mere moments after Butler finished introducing Cadillac’s full-size, four-door convertible concept on top of the breathtaking Tehama golf course (owned by none other than Clint Eastwood, of course) in beautiful Carmel Valley, California. But what is the Ciel? Using as much background information as we (more correctly Todd Lassa) could gather, here’s what (we think) we know.