The rise and fall of minivans and then SUVs and social pressure towards more responsible and fuel-efficient options is making the time right for the return of the wagon. They offer the gear-toting capability of SUVs, the step-over height, performance and fuel-efficiency of cars and they take nothing from the minivan, thankfully. Their major weakness has been styling, considered the more staid option compared to their sedan bases. The CTS Sport Wagon takes the wagon form to a level of sexy rarely seen in the segment.

An easy gauge of public interest in a car is how many times you're goaded into rolling down the window at a stop light by a dumbstruck motorist excited to know more about it. We knew Cadillac had done their job the fourth time someone stopped us to talk in the same day. The fellow behind the wheel of a Mercedes C-class wore a wide-eyed expression of an eight-year-old at the toy store, which told us what we already knew. This wagon is hot. It takes everything we like about the Cadillac CTS and somehow makes it even better. The long roof-line makes it seem sleeker, more finished — as if this was the original design, and the sedan was cut from it.

Like its CTS brother, the Sport Wagon is one of the best luxury cars on the market. It does absolutely everything right. The interior is beautifully finished, the wood, leathers, technology and quality are everything we expect of a Cadillac reclaiming its position as a global luxury power player. The car benefits from all 2010 CTS upgrades, including 6.5 lbs of additional sound damping and completely redesigned transmission mounts to remove harshness at certain engine speeds.

The base 3.0-liter V6 makes 270HP and our optional 304 HP direct injection 3.6-liter V6 balanced power and smoothness; there's significant thrust underneath the grown-up physique. Sadly, the manual transmission won't be available in the Sport Wagon, but the automatic transmission is well sorted. It's equipped with a manual mode activated by buttons on the back side of the steering wheel, but we recommend leaving it in full auto, as the shifts in manual are a bit sluggish for our tastes. The car is expected to return 18/27 MPG figures, and we saw 16.5/25.5 MPG with aggressive driving, so we're certain it'll do those numbers without trouble. Turn off the traction control and the car will happily indulge your mischievous side — donuts and oversteer are only a throttle stab away and the car is predictable as a go-kart, just like the CTS.

Then you pull into the driveway, fold down the seats, and toss your bicycle in the back. Or a month's worth of groceries. Or the dog. There's 58 cubic feet of storage back there with the seats down, 25 up. The only concession you make to get the massive storage is reduced visibility out the back window. The blind spots are there, but are no more intrusive than the sedan, and the backup camera and proximity sensors eliminate those in tight spaces.

Production on the Sport Wagon started last Monday, and with a starting price of $40,485, the car thoroughly crushes its remaining German rivals for the price. Our optioned-out performance package came with heated and cooled seats, XM radio, 18" Contisport 3 summer tires, more aggressive suspension tuning, a faster steering ratio and stiffer anti-roll bar. Well worth it in our opinion. The CTS Sport Wagon is everything a luxury wagon should be, it's refined and comfortable, not afraid of a little work on the side, and very importantly, fun to drive. After the CTS-V, the Sport Wagon is the best car in the Cadillac lineup right now. Well, until the CTS-V Sport Wagon. Hello, GM bean counters, are you listening?

[Edmunds Inside Line]

"General Motors will unveil a Cadillac CTS wagon this fall in an effort to compete with BMW's 3 series and Mercedes C-class wagons. Cadillac intends to start production in 2009 for global sale. GM has shown a CTS coupe concept to be produced next year."

Well, it looks like they also know there's a new SRX is on the way for 2010 and surprise, it'll be the BRX/Provoq concept:

"Cadillac also plans to replace its current SRX crossover with a production version of the Provoq concept crossover as a 2010 model."

Open up the power-operated lift-gate, and you'll find 25 cubic feet of cargo space, and 58 cubic feet of cargo space when you put down the split-folding 2nd row seat. That's not quite enough room to fit a casket in the back, but we have a feeling that this is one Cadillac wagon that won't be used for hearse duty. What we know for sure is we're of the opinion if Cadillac had wanted to keep this to themselves, they would have done it the old fashioned way — behind closed doors in panel testing.


Big Hat Tip to Wally!

CTS Wagon SPIED!!

Today we caught the third Cadillac CTS variant out testing, the CTS wagon.

Codenamed GMX 206, GM will start building this luxury wagon in the Spring of 2009. It will be built along side the CTS sedan and coupe at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant. Expect GM to build around 10,000-12,000 units a year with a significant portion of that run earmarked for sales in Europe.

Back in the U.S., once GM kills the SRX in the first or second quarter of 2009, it will be replacement by committee with the CTS wagon and BRX attempting to fill the SRX's spot in Cadillac's lineup.

Cadillac CTS Coupe! - A running prototype - Closely based on the concept, we caught what is obviously the Cadillac CTS Coupe - although sources speculate that name may actually be CTC when it reaches production in May of 2009. Codenamed GMX226, the stylish couple will be built along side the CTS sedan at the Lansing Grand River Plant.

The coupe will feature a backup camera which is not currently found on the sedan, and wont have tradition door handles, but touch pad setup instead. Styling wise, it obviously follows the concept VERY closely. Even the dual exhaust will make production. Only the concept front end may see a modest toning down to bring it inline with the CTS sedan.

We caught our first glimpse of the production Cadillac CTS Coupe through the trees of its secret holding pen. With these first-ever front-3/4 and profile shots of a real-world CTS coupe prototype, we can now assess the changes Cadillac designers have made to translate the striking Detroit concept into a production vehicle.

Thankfully, it appears that the majority of the CTS Coupe concept's
lines have been faithfully duplicated on this production model. Some
feared that the concept's radical fastback design might be watered
down, revealing the Coupe's sedan roots, but our profile view proves
these fears as unfounded. It appears that the production version may
have a slightly more pronounced rear deck, but if that's so, it's not
enough to significantly alter the concept's silhouette. The CTS coupe
prototype retains a remarkably flat backlight.

The CTS Coupe prototype further separates itself from its sedan donor
thanks to the elimination of a conventional door handle, adopting
instead the concept's Corvette-style design which hides the door
trigger behind the door's aft cut-line. The concept and production
similarities continue with the Coupe's revised lower side sill, and
the distinctively sculpted waistline, which begins at the A-pillar/
fender vent, and narrows as it stretches rearward. The camouflage
hides whether or not the line terminates into the concept's razor-
sharp point at the C-pillar, but it looks likely that that's another
design convergence between the show- and production cars. Earlier
photos also confirmed that the concept's bold central exhaust will
also reach showrooms.

There are some visible differences between the Detroit Show Standout
and the production model. Cost and feasibility studies have killed
the concept's glass-to-glass side windows, in favor of a visible B-
pillar on the production model. The rest of the changes are found in
front of the A-pillar. The concept coupe's large, CTS-V-style hood
bulge is gone on this prototype (although we'd love to see it return
on a future full-blow CTS-V coupe). And the show car's reshaped front
fenders—which sweep more voluptuously to a revised front bumper,
tweaked front ground-effects, and more dynamic headlight and fog-light
clusters—appear to have been replaced with stock items from the CTS
sedan. It looks to us like the CTS Coupe and sedan will share
identical front fenders and front fascia designs. From there, back,
however, the cars could scarcely be more different. The drama of the
CTS Coupe concept is alive and well, and on its way to Cadillac
showrooms.