Bling, bling. New Escalade appears

Newswheel staff :: 14 November 2005 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, SUV, Cadillac, Cadillac Escalade, Europe & UK, US

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Cadillac’s champion chintzmobile gets a makeover

A new version of Cadillac’s champion chintzmobile and current holder of the world’s naffest passenger vehicle title has been unveiled.

More a restyle than an all-new model, the latest Escalade 4x4 gets a new 6.2-litre gas-guzzling V8 capable of punching out 403 low-revving ponies. A new six-speed torque-converter slushbox helps improve nominal extra-urban fuel ecomony to an almost sane 19mpg. But we suspect most owners will be lucky to break into double figures. Cadillac also claims a stiffer chassis and curtain air bags for the new model. But who cares about such piffling details when you can drink in the Escalade’s latest crimes against good motoring taste, including LED tail lights and 22-inch chrome plates. Sad.

The Escalade is theoretically a US-only car, but that won’t prevent the usual litany of brain-dead footballers and soon-to-be-defunct reality TV stars from importing enough of them to clog up bits of west London.

Word:

Credit where it’s due, the interior isn’t too awful.