[American Moderns] CTS, the ultimate modern Cadillac.

Back in the 60's, Cadillac was certainly the American symbol of luxury and pride, and was recognized as the ultimate luxury car. Times changed a lot, and the luxurious american brand now has difficulty to survive, with hard competition coming from Mercedes, BMW, and more recently, Lexus and Infiniti. With poor models in the 90's, Cadillac certainly lost a bit of this glorious look that made it famous. Nowadays, Cadillac's style is certainly better than it was in the 90's, and its cars are now fully respectable, even if they're as spectacular as what they used to be (at least they're reliable :)). Here's one that almost saved the brand, and that is an important player in its section : the Cadillac CTS.

First generation : 2003 - 2007

Originally showed in 2002 as replacement to the horrible Cadillac Catera (which was a pale copy of the already pale Opel Omega), the CTS has been introduced as a 2003 model. It introduced the new Edge Cadillac style, with a huge contrast on the older Cadillac. The CTS was nominated as the North American Car Of The Year, and being featured in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, it quickly achieved some great sales. Originally introduced with a L6 220 hp engine, it quickly switched for a DOHC V6 offering 255 hp, and has been produced until 2007. An extreme version has been introduced in 2004, called the CTS-V, as a direct competitor to BMW M5. Featuring the same engine as the Corvette Z06 (LS2 V8 engine), it was able to deliver 400 hp.  Unfortunately, no diecast of the first generation has been produced... what a waste of a paragraph! :)

Second generation : 2008-...

CTS-V

CTS Coupe.

CTS Wagon.

Influenced from the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen Concept (that will certainly be covered in another post), the second generation CTS was introduced in 2008. Even if the first CTS was a great car, the second one is certainly a reference in its market segment. Bigger and more luxuous than the first one, it received Motor Trend Car Of The Year award in 2008, along with being selected in Car & Driver's 10 best cars list. Car & Driver even wrote "Maybe the best American car ever made" in 2010 about the CTS. Two engines are offered on the basic CTS : a 258 hp V6 engine, and a more powerful 304 hp V6 VVT engine. The CTS has also been declined in a Sport Wagon and a Coupe Version. All the CTS are available as the CTS-V, featuring a monstrous LSA V8 Engine with 556 hp. It is clearly one of the most powerful sedan in the market.

After all this real car introduction, we surely need to talk about diecasts :)
As the first generation, no diecast has been made around the regular CTS. BUT! All special versions have been covered. First, the CTS-V has recently been introduced as a 2010 New Model in Hot Wheels regular line-up. Only offered in the 2010 range for now, it has been produced in black (first version, which i own), red and silver. In my humble opinion, the casting has been awfully reproduced. The rear and side is not that bad, but the front doesn't really looks like a CTS. And of course, as with every Hot Wheels, the wheels are a bit too much generic, and doesn't fit that car so well. Well, what is really killing the casting are three things : the front grill (where's the Cadillac sign?), front light tampos are not accurate, and what's with the blue windows?

Evaluation : Hot Wheels '09 Cadillac CTS-V

• Accuracy (looking like the real car?) : 6/10
• Details (mirrors, wheels, other stuff)  : 6/10
• Color : 8/10
• Quality of the fabrication :  7/10
• Personal factor (is it a must for my collection?): 5/10
• Total : 32/50

The other Mattel brand, Matchbox, also recently introduced replicas of the CTS in its current lineup. Let's start with the CTS Wagon, that has been introduced in late 2010, in a red color. The casting is awesomely accurate, and you can really appreciate CTS Wagon's special shape. Even more, the front tampo is outstanding, and all the details make it look really great. I'm quite not a fan of the wheels, but they're somewhat  well accorded with the car. Two shades of red has been produced in 2010, and we're at three recolors so far in 2011. It is certainly one of the most impressive casting in the current Matchbox lineup, and a must for any collection. I must admit that i particularly love the shooting brake style of the CTS... and the tampos are simply incredible. One bad thing : bad paint quality.

Evaluation : Matchbox Cadillac CTS Wagon

• Accuracy (looking like the real car?) : 9/10
• Details (mirrors, wheels, other stuff)  : 8/10
• Color : 8/10
• Quality of the fabrication :  7/10
• Personal factor (is it a must for my collection?): 9/10
• Total : 41/50

Talking about Matchbox, they quickly introduced the CTS Coupe in the 2011 line-up, almost in the same time as the car was hitting the market. In my humble opinion, it is certainly one of the most beautiful car of the actual market. Introduced as the #32 in the VIP serie of the basic lineup, Matchbox's replica of the CTS Coupe is almost perfect. You can really feel the real car, its angular lines, the odd but awesome rear end... certainly one of the best new releases in 2011. Lots of details are included, tampos are simply perfect (front tampo is the same as the Wagon's one). As i said on the Wagon, i'm not a fan of those wheels though. The silver color is a bit dull, but its fits well the car's style. Certainly one of the must of 2011, you need to find one!

Evaluation : Matchbox Cadillac CTS Coupe

• Accuracy (looking like the real car?) : 9/10
• Details (mirrors, wheels, other stuff)  : 8/10
• Color : 7/10
• Quality of the fabrication :  8/10
• Personal factor (is it a must for my collection?): 9/10
• Total : 41/50

Enjoy the pics folks, all comments are welcomed! I want to improve :)