2018 Cadillac CTS-V Glacier Metallic Edition Celebrates Cadillac's 115th, Commands a $15,895 Premium

The production run for the 2018 Cadillac CTS-V Glacier Metallic Edition, set to take place in 2017 on behalf of the 2018 model year, will be limited to a scant 115 units to celebrate Cadillac’s 115th anniversary.

Sounding like the proper name for a glitzy Jeep Grand Cherokee, the CTS-V Glacier Metallic Edition operates with the same 640-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter V8 of less costly CTS-Vs, but Cadillac demands $15,895 for the privilege.

That brings the CTS-V Glacier Metallic Edition’s price up to $103,885 including destination, a lofty sum for a performance-oriented Cadillac.

Yet the 2018 Cadillac CTS-V GME — you can’t expect us to type Glacier Metallic Edition every time, not when Cadillac alternatively calls it “smoky light gray” — is more than just an anniversary paint job. The CTS-V GME still undercuts the Mercedes-AMG E63 S and Audi RS7 and is slathered with typically optional equipment.

In fact, if you add all of the 115th anniversary edition CTS-V’s standard equipment (special paint aside) to a regular 2017 Cadillac CTS-V, you end up with a $103,160 sticker — only $725 less than the anniversary edition car. That’s roughly the dollar difference of a premium coat of paint.

Ah, so the MSRP isn’t that frightening. Not when you consider standard fitment of the carbon fiber front splitter, hood vent, rear spoiler, and rear diffuser. Plus the luxury package’s tri-zone climate control, heated rear seats, and rear camera mirror. And the inclusion of $2,300 Recaro seats, a $1,600 performance data and video recorder, and the $1,450 panoramic sunroof. Also: the $595 Brembo brake calipers.

Expensive cars are expensive. Expensive cars with extra options, included on the CTS-V GME as standard equipment, are more expensive.

Yet the CTS-V remains a performance bargain by the standards of its classmates.

It also continues to look like designers who wanted to work on the TVR T350T and Mercedes-Benz’s AMG GLA43 Edition 1 boarded Cadillac’s design ship, committed successful acts of mutiny, and turned the CTS into GM’s luxury sedan version of the Honda Civic Type R.

On the whole, U.S. sales of the Cadillac CTS are tanking. Through 2017’s first seven months, CTS volume is down 37 percent to only 5,845 units, placing the CTS on track for its lowest-volume year in history. By a wide margin.

[Image: General Motors]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.