As some of you know, the dealership I patronize also sells Cadillacs and Subarus. Thus, when the wagon is being serviced, I have to check out the Cadillac showroom across the lot and see what’s new. During the summer of 2012 while the wagon was getting an oil change, I checked out a silver-over-black ATS that had just come in. “What’s an ATS?” I asked. Scott, the salesman, threw me the key to check it out.
While I didn’t drive it, I sat in it, and really liked it, though my favorite current Cadillac would be the XTS. The ATS was a nice size, and the styling was clearly Cadillac. A normally aspirated four cylinder is standard, but a turbo four and the 3.6 V6 are available. I especially liked the chrome trim around the windows. One of the things I don’t like about my V50 wagon is the blacked-out window surrounds. I wish they were chrome instead, as the black just looks cheap to me. But I digress.
I had no intention of trading off the Volvo at the time, but I am one of those people who are always looking for “the next one,” even if it is years off. However, I am not a big fan of either silver paint or black upholstery. But then last April I saw this one. Black paint always looks good, but this one went one step above that in my desirability scale.
It had the dark red leather interior. Today, most manufacturers with non-gray or non-tan interiors take the cheap way out, with black carpeting and door panels instead of color-keying them to the seats. But the black-and-red combo on this Caddy was rather attractive. There is enough red on the doors and instrument panel to keep it from looking like someone put red seats in a black interior.
My camera’s flash make the seats look brighter than they really are, it is more of a medium red than fire-engine red. It didn’t help that the bright sunlight coming through the showroom’s glass front were throwing off my camera’s focus. It all looked suitably upscale, although I would have preferred some burled wood trim to the faux carbon fiber on the dash and door panels.
image: gm.ca
Since the ATS’s debut, other nice interior colors have become available on Cadillacs. The new 2014 CTS can be had with Twilight Blue leather, for instance. A navy blue CTS with blue leather would be extremely sharp in your author’s opinion, high on his must-have scale. I daresay I prefer the blue to the red!
The ATS has been on the market since late summer of 2012, and I have seen several around my area, despite there being only one Cadillac dealer in the Quad Cities. I am sure the folks at McLaughlin were pleased when the Cadillac dealer in Rock Island dropped their GM franchises several years ago to concentrate on Honda, and the other one in Davenport became a Buick/GMC-only dealer. As a customer of McLaughlin, I have to say they stand behind their work–and the cars they sell. Rare–and valued–considering all the dealership horror stories we’ve heard.
This is a nice car, and appropriately Cadillac. It is the smallest, and least expensive Cadillac, but it doesn’t shout “I’m the cheapskate version!” at all. Not even close to the ill-fated and ill-advised Cimarron. But I’m a hopeless Cadillac lover, and I wouldn’t even mind a 1987 or ’88 Cimarron, as long as it didn’t have the fake convertible top or fake Rolls-Royce grille on it.
image: automotive.com
And the new 2015 ATS coupe (essentially replacing the fastback CTS coupe) is sharp. That red-on-red version is calling my name! And I’m sure the ’15 Escalade will find plenty of suburbanites signing on the bottom line to own one. Cadillac, it seems, is back. In a year or two, the reliable old Volvo just might have to make way for a White Diamond XTS sedan…or that previously-mentioned blue-on-blue CTS…or the red-on-red ATS coupe–all certified pre-owned, of course. Oh man, I may wind up owning both a Cadillac and a Lincoln. Then I’ll feel as rich as Carmine!
Wow–red leather in something other than a BMW. I like…I like very much. The blue is nice too, if a bit subtle.
Cadillac just added another point to its already winning tally in my own personal “next car” status, though convincing the wife may take some doing (a hangover from her own checkered experience with an Oldsmobile Alero, which turned her into a “never another domestic” type).
Love the red and black….The reason I bought my Z4…black saphire exterior with red leather interior
Bimmer and Mercedes offer those sharp color mainly because of China and other Asian market. Their economy are growing at a fast pace, people generally feel confident about their future and happy to show their positive spirit. If those people are enjoying the Spring, we are in the midst of Winter where gray and triple-black rule. Well, we did enjoyed our Spring back in the ’50s, remember these cars and the happy days?
I had a used E39 (pre-Bangle) 5 Series BMW in my used car lot once – it was dark green outside and had a dark green velour interior to match. But the absolute highlight was the dark green dashboard.
I loved it so much…
Velour in an E39? Never seen that. Or in any BMW actually. US only?
Don! You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a velourised E39! Velour was standard on the NZ-new E39 528; some ex-JDM import 528s have come in with it too. Top 2 pics below are an NZ-new 528i; bottom 2 are a JDM-spec one. You’ll note the NZ-new one has plastic backs to the front seats but the JDM has velour. You’ll also note on the JDM front seat that BMW velour can wear just as badly as non-BMW velour!
Cheers Scott, Whilst I might appreciate the overabundant ruchefullness of a mid 70s US velourised interior, I find this half-arsed effort quite distasteful. I know I should thank you for expanding my knowledge, but a Cortina and a Rapier?
I know many would consider me a complete philistine but I love velour interiors! The XF Fairmont Ghia remains firmly planted atop the velour interior desirability pinnacle (although it’d need the FE LTD’s velour centre console for completeness).
I don’t usually like leather (or vinyl or any combination) as I find it cold to the touch, and it doesn’t usually look inviting to me. There are exceptions of course, the redded-up ATS being one. Another exception is a very good mate’s E39 535, which has the unusual BMW pinky-purply-coloured leather. It looks great and the seats were nice to sit in while I was flinging the car around the back roads – uh I mean driving sedately around the block.
There are exceptions to my velour-love too, such as a 420G I once saw that had been completely retrimmed in the 80s with Fairmont Ghia velour. Despite my velour-love, it just looked look wrong.
The Mk II Cortina and Arrow Rapier had vinyl! And I’m guessing that Bentley that looked like a combination of them both had leather! 😉
Ex-JDM explains the velour, the Japanese famously (well kinda) prefer non-leather seats in their luxury cars. Of course this was echoed in cars ~90 years ago where you see the rear compartment of high-end cars trimmed in amazing fabrics and even tapestries, while the driver/chauffer has a plain black leather bench.
I found a picture of a similar one – here with leather.
Looks like something a Russian mobster would drive, but I like it!
Sean – it was MUCH better “in person”. The interior was very cosy and made you feel at home. I loved it.
It’s about time we have some interior color back! Black, tan and gray are getting so long in the tooth depressing.
I’m with you there. One of the things I love about my ’69 Skylark is the white interior & red carpets.
Hopefully the colour will trickle down to lesser marques.
I’ve had my eye on the ATS and would love to drive one. It might be the car that gets me to buy American again. Oh, I forgot, I now drive a Saab…
Anyway, I agree that it would look like red seats were inserted into a black interior if there wasn’t some additional red. But this isn’t working for me. There’s way too much red on the other surfaces, it looks plastic-y, and it doesn’t match the red on the seats. The interior would look better with simply a small red accent on the dash and doors.
Don’t know why but your comment made me think of this.
Eeeek! What the hell is that?
Probably a Neon.
My son and some companions got an ATS as a rental last December. They wanted to like the car more than they ended up actually liking it. He told me that the nicest part of the car was getting out, walking about 10 feet, then turning around and thinking “nice Cadillac.” It got a check engine light halfway through their trip and the rental company switched them into an Infiniti. As a car, they preferred the Infiniti. As an object of style and presence, though, they really liked the Cad.
I agree with your enthusiasm over the red and black leather in that black car. Really sharp. I could see that dark blue leather in a silver or white car, too.
The Edmunds long-term ATS had quite a few reliability issues. It’s a shame, since I was so optimistic about this car at first.
This is good. Now if we can just get beyond dusty earth metallic paint.
Red interior contrasting with white, silver, black or even dark blue is an excellent choice but not many people will go there anymore. One has to respect the dealer’s chutzpah for ordering a car with a contrasting red interior for inventory.
The ATS coupe looks great and I’d love to have a car like that one too. But . . . . GM, O’Bama bailout, ignition scandal, etc., etc., etc. Can’t cross those barriers.
I like Cadillac’s current style, however I can’t indentify the recent models and years, they are all so similar.
Love the red and I like the layout of the blue even better.
Now to get those combos in vehicles I’d actually consider buying.
I used to have a ’79 Corvette. It had a red interior. And I mean RED!!! Red leather seats, red dash, red carpet, red console, red door panels. The only thing not red were the instruments. I have to admit I really liked it…
That describes the interior of the ’78 Malibu coupe I had in high school. Red EVERYTHING! It even had the “deluxe” seat belt option which consisted of red seat belts instead of black.
I want to like them, but they leave me cold. It’s the lack of a backside. Still not sure of Cadillac’s purpose right now, either.
Well, yeah, I think all red would look best. But this is still much better than all black, gray, or beige.
Pretty half-assed.
How innovative. Who would have thought of using red? Only today’s designers with no clue of the past. Looking past that the interior layout is just like most other layouts seen today. The profile looks like another two dozen cars out there. From rounded curves to super angular curves. Didn’t like either design. At least it is not the ugliest out there compared to the Buick and Jeep front designs. I think the problem is that today’s designers spent too much time playing with their Transformers toys when young.
I dig the red, and I think the ATS captures a fun/youthful side of Cadillac that the brand needs. I’d like to get behind the wheel for a driving experience. Lol @ the Cimarron reference. Hey, I’d own one too, just for novelty’s sake. A buddy of mine had one with the plate: WRST CAD
And the ATS is being HUGELY discounted w/ average incentive of $6500.
http://247wallst.com/autos/2014/03/15/ten-cars-people-wont-buy/
It looks impressive in photos, except that rear legroom looks a bit cramped. Is that just a quirk of the photos?
A friend has a CTS that’s a couple of years old, I think. It has all kinds of bells and whistles, including a huge double moonroof, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised by its stiff, unyielding ride; its stiff, unyielding seats; a cramped rear seat with about as much legroom as our 2003 Civic had; and a surprising noise level for a Cadillac, with lots of road noise getting through. We like our prosaic, practical Camry Hybrid better.
You can get a dark red on the Buick Lacrosse, a burgundy suede/leather combo that looks really nice.
It is amazing how much the new CTS’s look like these. I actually had to find a side by side photo to tell the difference!
Dad just bought a 2014 CTS VSport, black with dark brown leather. I only got to see it once before he took it to Arizona for the winter. Hopefully I’ll get to drive it when he gets back next month. Seems like a nice car, though I wish he would’ve gone for the V with the manual instead 🙂
I’m loving Caddy’s resurgence. Right now, to me, it’s the brand to watch. However, I do have some concerns.
I still prefer the previous-gen CTS to the new one-so far. It had the wagon! And the coupe was just gorgeous. But, then, the previous incarnation did launch as a sedan-only proposition as well. If Cadillac truly wants to challenge BMW, Mercedes and Audi it needs to diversify, and it did that rather well with the previous-gen CTS. To say the new car is superior is a given, though, to be honest, I did prefer the look of the last gen as well. Perhaps the new one will grow on me more as it ages? Time will tell.
Regarding the ATS-loving it, tho, again, to be a credible competitor to the German marques, I wish they had injected more of the last-gen CTS coupe’s swagger into the ATS coupe. A very good car, to be sure, but GM played the typically GM safe bet-which somewhat hurts the potential of the littlest Caddy. And it needs a full range of models as well.
Finally, onto the XTS; I understand Caddy is pursuing traditional “Cadillac-luxury” buyers, but, to be honest, this car is muddling Cadillac’s image. That’s not to say I don’t like the car-in fact, aside from it’s generous badonk, I think it’s quite attractive. But, again, if Cadillac is going to position itself as a credible alternative to the German heavy-hitters, it needs a bona-fide RWD flagship, and with the XTS, I’m feeling more Lexus or Acura than Bimmer. Bummer, tho I understand a proper 7-series/S class competitor is in the works. I just hope it won’t have an available bench seat or opera windows, if you get where I’m going.
And bring back the XLR, or another car along those lines. It was drop-dead sexy, but it was probably also too early in Cadillac’s renaissance to be taken seriously as an SL competitor-and there were admittedly touches of cheapness (the sun visors, for example).
Here’s hoping they keep the momentum, instead of letting promising designs rot on the vine, a-la XLR, STS and SRX version 1.0.
I’ll be watching.
Caddy should never have gotten rid of a flagship RWD, but once you abandon what you were known for in order to try to play “catch up”, your goose is cooked. As soon as they tried to out-Kraut the Krauts they lost. Now Lexus has the comfy smooth quiet-as-a-coffin ride in the bag that Caddy used to catch hell for when all the “experts” were gobsmacked by the Teutonic sports sedan formula, so now Cadillac has to play catch up with them too.
Plus, like I mentioned in a previous post, for being such a big car on the outside, an XTS again mimicks the worst of sports sedanism by dropping you in a narrow cockpit-esque front seat hemmed in by too high of a door and too bulky a center console. I really wanted to like it, really I did! but no thank you.
The red interior is interesting, but I don’t really like it. It reminds me of the obscure GM interior colors from the bad old days of the 90s. I do like the blue one in the CTS, but all black is just fine with me, too.
The rest of the car I absolutely love. I keep hearing the criticism that “it looks too much like the previous generation CTS”, but I don’t really see how that’s a bad thing. Cadillac has been taking big styling risks for a decade now and they’ve all paid off, more or less. To go somewhat conservative on this car, which is a further step outside their comfort zone (and also a successor to the hated Catera), seems like a smart decision. It’s not like it’s unattractive or dated, it’s just safe.
I’ve crucified GM many times in the comments here, so I always like to take an opportunity to praise the work they’ve done getting Cadillac back to where they are at this point. It’s really been an incredible effort, and I think the cars they’ve built in the last 10 years are the best they’ve done since the 60s.
I think the interior was ugly and it looks like it belongs in a focus. Cadillacs line up is almost as pathetic as Lincolns. Why is it only Chrysler can build a decent looking car anymore??? Cadillac please build a real car. Sixteen with a chevy v8 and rear wheel drive or an evoque? Can’t see anyone aspiring to one of these.
My dad was recently in the market for a car, and we went and looked at the local Cadillac dealership. I saw a couple cars on the lot with the red interior, and personally I was a fan. I really hope more cars begin offering more interior colors, as it can really dress up an otherwise plain interior!
Another company doing a great job in the interior color department is Chrysler, with available white, red and blue interiors on various models. When my dad was looking at 300s, I noticed a few darts with a white interior, and a few 300s with a red interior similar to this Cadillac pictured.
In the end, my dad ended up buying a car with a black interior, a 2013 Chrysler 300 John Varvatos. That car is quite a looker, I have to say, and I think it wears the 20″ wheels pretty good (i.e, they look proportional to the rest of the car). However, I’ll still take my ’90 Brougham any day!
Just for fun, a pic of my brougham at the Cadillac dealership:
Now THAT is a Caddilac!
I hate to say it but the sedan looks better than the 2015 coupe, I’m not fond of this mandatory close coupled look every recent coupe has including the current CTS. Shame too because the shot of it you used in the article is stunning, but a quick google search of it revealed beetle proportions. Needs more rear overhang or something.
I love the interior!
The Charger and 300 offer similar interior options.
I was just poking around at chrysler.com and it looks like the red and orange seats are only available on the 300 SRT. They do offer dark blue seats in one of the other models.
Awe man really? That sucks, they used to have a red and black and tan and black interior option on the lesser models which I felt was really neat. I’ve opined after one of those cars with that interior for some time but I don’t need the SRT version. The V6 would be just fine for me.
I noticed that most ‘flamboyant’ colors are ordered by older people while all-black or Some-sort-of-silver are mostly for the younger crowd. At least that is the case in my socal low desert location.
I know an older lady just took delivery of a Mercedes e550 convertible with a factory red/maroon top, she ordered and waited 5 months for it. She’s in her early 70s. Another couple often drive around in their baby blue phantom convertible with matching interior. They also looked to be in their 70s if not 80s. I think those folks are reliving the 50s and like the color that was popular back then. Younger generation are just too shy to be seem as flamboyant.
I love all the current Cadillac design, inside and out, but seeing that it’s available with that red interior has made it hit the top of my dream’o’meter! The VE Holden Commodore (aka Pontiac G8) was available with a similarly red interior that included the dashboard. Nom nom nom.
Scott – doesn’t this red top panel reflect in the windshield? It’s something I hated in many cars – reflections from a light coloured dash in the windscreen…
Good point, and I suspect you’re correct as that was on the original VE, and for the VE Series II they dropped the red top panel and made the console sides and door handle surrounds red instead:
I immediately thought of the same interior treatment! You would probably have to ask one of the (presumably) 4 people who ordered the car like that how the reflections worked out. At least the top of the dash is quite flat and does not have many joins etc, so I’d guess you would just have a slight red/orange tint to everything you see rather than ‘intrusive’ reflections.
Had I been wealthy at the time, I’d have made it 5 people who ordered a Commodore with that red dash!
Not knowing anything about this Cadillac I cant comment on its qualities as a premium car. However its styling seems at best..bland? From a European perspective it seems rather small too. Smaller than the current Jaguar saloon I think? On that note I wonder what the largest production car is nowadays, a Rolls or Bentley, not that their styling is entirely satisfactory.
This car is meant to be the 3-series competitor, the XTS would be comparable in size to the Jaguar XJ.
Much like the Hyundai Azera cabin, methinks.
My winter beater ’96 Crown Vic has a nice cozy green cloth interior, and my ’78 Fairmont has a pimpin’ red velour one. Just bought an ’05 Crown Vic with a dark charcoal interior and boy, is it “bleh”.
My ’97 Vic also has the green interior, probably the same vaguely spruce-y shade. It’s possibly my favorite thing about the car. (I’m not terribly fond of the Vic, which isn’t fair, as I’m mainly mad at it for not being the Marauder I used to have.)
So even as late as the mid 90’s colors were available. A buddy had a ’93 Accord with a medium blue on blue interior, I had a ’91 Crown Vic years back that had what can only be described as bordello red velour, and there were a vast and somewhat surprising array of interior colors offered for the Mark VIII over its six years of production. So it’s kind of surprising how abruptly everything went either gray, black, or tan around 2000. Nice to see the choices making a comeback.
Ahh, colors in the interior. I’ve been after Lincoln for years to do this, it would be (have been) an inexpensive way to differentiate their Ford based product. It’s ironic that Cadillac beat them to it since Lincoln always lead the way in the old days (60’s-90’s) with multiple colors, sew patterns and packages for the inside.
Here’s a pic of my new ’60 Mk V convertible…sapphire with two tone turquoise interior, no beige allowed!
…here’s the interior.
Oooooh, beautiful. You are DEFINITELY a VIP in the turquoise car club. 🙂
Tom, you must have seen the Volvo V70 R wagon from seven or eight years ago that came in dark blue with matching leather seats? That was sweet-looking.
Man, that interior is sharp!
I’m glad more accessible cars are going back to colored interiors. That Twilight Blue (classy name) sounds nice.
The 300 has red too.
My dad recently bought a 370Z with burgundy seats and burgundy convertible top. Wish the dash had the color too, but beggars can’t be choosers and the black interior complements it well.
My favorite has always been Porsche though. My dad’s Silver 1998 Boxster had a full red interior, and with that silver color, looked gorgeous. It’s one of my favorite combinations ever.
It’s the same combination you see on 300SL Gullwings and the Carrera GT and the 2008 RS60.
It also had white faced gauges even though the Boxster S first came out in 2000. I think it was either a special edition or the previous owner put them on.
I’m sure Porsche still does full color interiors but I liked the way the dash was a padded leather or vinyl.
I’ve also seen Boxsters with blue interiors (maybe even green?).
I also found this picture I took of a Fiat 500. I think the white with red looks quite nice.
The white steering wheel is very unique and akin to the glory days of the 50s.
Interesting half red-half white seats too. Wonder how it would look with full red seats though…better?
I have a white diamond with red interior and AWD. Also has driver asst pkg. No problems unless needing to replace a tire that must have been damaged during mounting counts. The HVAC was recently reprogrammed and I don’t think it works like it did. The engine was also updated and does idle smoother. Edmonds problems were that they didn’t bother to read the owners manual or perhaps the iPad with the owners manual was “lost”.
One complaint was that the opening fanfare was too loud. But this can be turned off or down.