Cadillac finally unveiled the production-ready Celestiq, a $300,000 concept car come to life. Cars like the Celestiq are why we’re car enthusiasts. They take interesting ideas and actually put them on the road. You may not love the Celestiq’s styling (I certainly don’t love every angle) but it’s hard to not love the fact that it exists as it is. However, it does come with some questions, such as whether it can truly take on Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
Let’s get straight to brass tax. The Cadillac Celestiq is going to cost around $300,000. That’s an extraordinary amount of money, especially for a Cadillac. As car enthusiasts, we have to question whether such a car is worth the money and whether Cadillac can provide a $300,000 experience, from top to bottom. Will the buying experience be as premium as with other cars in that price bracket or will customers go down to their local GM dealership and find one sitting next to a Yukon Denali and a Chevy Malibu?
Of course, the answer is that it doesn’t matter in reality. Rich people buy dumb expensive stuff all the time, regardless of actual value. So Cadillac will likely sell every Celestiq it makes. But it’s our job to look at it, objectively, and determine whether it seems on par with cars from Rolls, Bentley, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and even Mercedes-Maybach.
First, let’s talk its design. This is how you do a flagship luxury car. Pay attention BMW because Cadillac brought the world a concept car come to life and you brought us the XM, the answer to a question no one asked. There’s a difference. From some angles, the Celestiq is breathtakingly beautiful. From others, it’s kind of frumpy and weird. However, I love that something so unique exists and that Cadillac took chances in a good way. There’s a lot to look at and take in, question, and ponder. It grows on you. The XM just punches you in the face and tells you to deal with it.
From the outside, I’ll go as far a to say that, despite not loving it wholly, I think the Cadillac Celestiq is a $300,000 design. It’s far more interesting than any Rolls-Royce or Bentley and it’s better looking than most of them, too.
Inside, though, I am a bit apprehensive. Don’t get me wrong, it looks really cool inside. There’s enough ambient lighting inside to spot it…
