About That Cadillac Celestiq…

God, that’s an awkward word to type… and pronounce. Regardless, the upcoming Celestiq is a halo for the brand — a fastback-style four-door electric with exclusivity in spades. General Motors envisions it as a limited-production offering, and its price will reflect its status.

We felt it necessary to share this tweet from Wall Street Journal reporter Mike Colias, who squeezed this from Cadillac President Steve Carlisle:

Leftover scraps from Cadillac flagship ‘Celestiq’ news: It’ll be hand-built in the hundreds per year, Caddy chief Steve Carlisle said. Price? Six figures … “and it won’t have a 1 in front of it.” Due mid-2022.

— Mike Colias (@MikeColias) March 5, 2020

With no renderings available, we can’t judge the visual appeal of the Celestiq, which rides atop a new third-generation EV platform and draws power from proprietary battery tech GM hopes to license to other manufacturers (for a fee). Still, one can’t help but dream of Cadillac brass dusting off the gorgeous Elmiraj and Ciel show cars of yesteryear and slotting a modular EV platform underneath.

With bodies like that, who needs cylinders and a fuel pump?

As you read earlier today, GM President Mark Reuss believes Cadillac has an image problem, and a range-topping flagship stickering for (possibly) a quarter million would certainly raise the marque’s profile… while also raising eyebrows. Still, the ability of such a vehicle to shift public perception in a meaningful way remains to be seen. If it’s a sales dud, well, that’s another image problem to deal with.

The Celestiq’s existence (well, future existence) makes one wonder whether rival Lincoln, which also has an EV roadmap, will follow suit with a halo car of its own. It’s something a few of us here would like to see.