Automakers sometimes note that if they only followed enthusiasts’ advice, they would go bankrupt. They would plow precious development resources into wondrously stupid, micro-niche driver’s cars…like a fire-breathing, 500-plus horsepower rear-wheel-drive wagon with a six-speed manual transmission.
Yet for a brief and glorious period in the early 2010s, Cadillac tested that theory with the CTS-V. While other luxury automakers wisely fleshed out their SUV offerings from 2011 to 2014, Cadillac gave its 556-horsepower CTS-V performance car both the options of a station wagon body style and a stick shift. Just 514 manual CTS-V wagons were built, so when they become available on the used market, they sell quickly –and for high prices.
Speaking of: a sparingly-used 2014 version with only 14,000 miles has just popped up for auction on Bring a Trailer.
This CTS-V is not quite pristine. The White Diamond Tricoat model uses the stock 6.2-liter supercharged V8, but has extensive performance modifications, including Eibach lowering springs, an Airaid performance air intake, an Innovators West Balancer Pulley and upgrades to the valvetrain and fuel injectors. (The seller is offering the car with all of its stock parts, however, and asserts that the modifications are easily reversible.)
Expect this manual CTS-V wagon to go for a lot of money. Just one day into the week-long auction, bidding is already up to $52,500. The BAT record for a CTS-V, for the record, is $71,000, set back in July 2019; an even lower mileage model from 2014 was bid up to $70,000 but did not hit its reserve. Don’t be surprised if this wagon surpasses that mark.
That said, if pouring $70,000-plus into a six-year-old wagon doesn’t make much sense to you, another option could be scoring a used third-generation CTS-V sedan. It’s not a wagon, and it’s not a manual, but it’s still an all-time great Cadillac.
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