How a Bespoke V8 Died Before It Lived

Cadillac’s Blackwing V8 was a statement of intent. Unveiled in March 2018 for the 2019 CT6 V‑Sport at the New York auto show, the 4.2‑liter twin‑turbocharged RPO LTA was the first clean‑sheet, Cadillac‑exclusive DOHC V8 since the Northstar family that bowed in the early 1990s and ended production after 2011. In an age of downsizing and crossover logic, Cadillac invested in a bespoke V8 to reclaim space among the world’s great luxury marques. The engine was meant to be the CT6’s heart, hand‑built by a single technician at GM’s Performance Build Center inside the Bowling Green Assembly complex in Kentucky, with the builder’s signature on the intercooler cover to make the point. With it, Cadillac signaled that it could still run with AMG and BMW on engineering, not just marketing. Enthusiasts and engineers had reason to be optimistic; here was an American luxury brand reviving the art of a sophisticated, reverse‑flow, hot‑V twin‑turbo V8 aimed straight at the autobahn crowd. Cadillac even gave it a proper name, Blackwing, and for the brief moment it was allowed to shine the engine delivered on the promise.

Continue reading “Cadillac’s Blackwing Could Have Been the Future” →

The most beautiful French car of the postwar era is the Citroën DS Décapotable by Henri Chapron. The DS itself, unveiled at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, was already a revolution in form and technology. Aerodynamic and futuristic, it drew 12,000 orders on its first day. Roland Barthes called it “a change in the mythology of cars,” and decades later an international jury would name it the most beautiful car of all time. That acclaim was for the sedan, but the four-door was only half of Bertoni’s vision.

In Chapron’s hands the DS became whole. The Décapotable’s handmade doors were lengthened by four inches to balance the profile once the rear doors and B-pillars were gone. The one-piece rear quarter panels, reshaped tail, and lightweight fiberglass boot lid created a smooth taper that allowed the eye to travel uninterrupted from the low, raked windscreen to the trailing edge of the car. Reinforced sills and underbody bracing preserved the car’s structural integrity, ensuring the famous hydropneumatic suspension still delivered its level, unruffled ride. The proportions became classical without losing their modernity. Only 1,365 were built between 1960 and 1971, each hand-finished with bespoke trim in a choice of fifteen paints, thirteen leather colors, and three carpet hues. Seen with the roof stowed, a DS Décapotable is a finished composition in a way the sedan could only hint at.

Continue reading “Have You Ever Seen Anything as Lovely as a Citroën DS Décapotable?” →

It is a popular myth that the order is reversed, but the sleek Lexus SC300, SC400, and Z30 Toyota Soarer was a halo car so well realized that Toyota’s sports-car division later borrowed its subframes, suspension, and powertrain for the MkIV Supra. Owned by personalities as varied as the Notorious B.I.G. (who preferred to be chauffeured in the passenger seat), Wayne Newton, and Bill Gates, the Lexus SC400 was recognized by the automotive press and celebrities alike as a world-beater.

From the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo ($29,000), to the Mazda RX-7 FD ($40,000–$60,000), to the *base* MkIV Supra ($65,000) and the Supra Turbo ($97,000+), Japanese sports coupes from the 1990s are having a moment in 2025. Some would call it a bubble. At the lower end of the market, there is the base model Z32 300ZX, which goes for $14,000, the Mitsubishi 3000GT SL and its “American” cousin the Dodge Stealth base model, which can be had for under ten grand. Two choices for AWD are the 3000GT VR-4 or the Stealth R/T, both of which trade for $20,000–$40,000 and up.  

Continue reading “America’s Lexus: The California-Born Lexus SC is the Hidden Bargain in Japanese Sport Coupes” →

Welcome to the place where logic breaks down, not with a bang but with $500 bottles of brake fluid (Rolls SZ) and the vague smell of an overheated AMEX Centurion. The below cars are not “bad cars” in the normal sense; they’re proof that the right combination of hubris, panic, and corporate disarray can move mountains, or at least a few tons of Connolly leather and steel. This is the Absurdity Index, where deeply strange automotive decisions in the luxury segment finally get their due.

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I. Defending the Throne

By the late 1980s, Mercedes-Benz had little to prove. The W126 S-Class was the standard. No rival matched its presence, durability, or numbers. The idea that Stuttgart could be blindsided seemed far-fetched—until BMW changed everything.

BMW’s E32 7 Series arrived in 1986. A year later, the 750iL dropped: Germany’s first postwar V12 sedan, and a shot straight at Stuttgart. The effect was immediate and deeply personal. Mercedes-Benz was caught flat-footed by Munich’s boldness, and by how much ground BMW covered in a single move.

With the W140’s development nearly finished, Stuttgart abruptly shifted into crisis mode. Deadlines slipped by a year or more, and the planned 1989 debut was pushed all the way to 1991. The reason was obvious: Mercedes refused to arrive without a direct counter to BMW’s Zwölfzylinder. The scramble was total, with an all-new 6.0-liter M120 V12 and rapid reengineering of almost every major system. Costs surged past 1.5 billion Deutsche Marks.

The consequences were immediate. Instead of launching in 1989 alongside the Lexus LS400, whose design hinted at corporate espionage, the new S-Class appeared five years after the E32 and four years after the 750iL. For Mercedes dealers, it was painful to watch rival innovations pass them by: Toyota’s obsessive refinement, BMW’s headline-grabbing technology, Jaguar’s XJ40, and even incremental advances from Cadillac and Lincoln. The S-Class had always been the future. For the first time, it was playing catch-up.

The brief had shifted only slightly. The goal was now to retake the crown, not simply defend it. By late 1987, the design was locked. When the W140 debuted in 1991, it was heavier, more complex, and more expensive than any Mercedes before it. It was built to make Munich’s breakthrough feel like old news.

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BMW’s V12 flagship didn’t just shock the establishment—it rewrote the rules

I. Speak Softly and Carry More Cylinders

BMW, a company known for well-made sports sedans, so thoroughly shocked the system with its new V12 and 750i/750iL (L for long wheelbase) that Mercedes delayed its new S-Class—taking an agonizing four years to respond. The undisputed elite, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, stuck to their tried-and-true formulas through 1998, arguably leading to their acquisition by BMW and Volkswagen Group, respectively, by the end of the 20th century. Jaguar found itself utterly outclassed. Aston Martin’s bizarre Lagonda sedan was a technological dead end (the 750iL walked all over it as well). And the Americans? Well, they hadn’t been true players in this game since the 1950s—Cadillac had long since abdicated the ultra-luxury throne to become a mere footnote, and Lincoln was busy churning out Town Cars for limo duty. Make no mistake—the 1988 BMW 750iL changed everything that makes a luxury flagship, and its influence on what modern luxury means cannot be overstated, 38 years and counting later.

Continue reading “The BMW 750iL Changed Everything“ →