Reporting from Le Mans (Sort Of) – A Very Nice and Reasonably Priced 2014 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon

Even on vacation, I’m scrolling through the CarMax app for unicorns, and believe I added this 2014 Cadillac CTS-V wagon to my “saved” profile while in France mid-June for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (my sixth). In my head, there was a loose connection between this Cadillac with a Corvette engine, the Cadillac Hertz #12 car (below) that came in fifth overall (fourth after the cheating #50 Ferrari was DQ’d), and the #81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R that finished on the podium third in LMGT3 – but there are lots of loose connections in my head in general. I couldn’t write until I got back to the USA. More on Le Mans later – back to the Cadillac CTS-V wagon.

Cadillac introduced the wagon version of the CTS-V in 2011, but only made them through 2014. With perhaps 2,000 units sold, it’s a unicorn (514 manual models are definitely unicorns!). “The CTS-V wagon shares the 556 hp (415 kW) engine and six-speed manual or automatic transmission, Magnetic Ride Control, Brembo brakes, 19-inch aluminum wheels and performance tires, and a dual-airflow grille also used in the CTS-V sedan and coupe.” – Wiki. Motor Trend tested an identical CTS-V wagon in 2014, achieving 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. This made it the quickest CTS-V sedan or wagon they had tested to date, matching the exact same timing as the 50th anniversary Porsche 911. The wagon also pulled 0.93 g in lateral acceleration. Not bad for a 4,400 lb “family” car.

By modern standards, the car is fairly average inside, featuring seat heaters, navigation, and Bose audio, but lacking in other technology and convenience features. It’s a driver’s car, and I have to remind myself that not all drivers are as soft and old as I am, insisting on features like seat massagers, heated steering wheels, and automatic cruise control. It’s actually a nice interior if you don’t want the fancy stuff. Underneath, the car has Magnetic Ride Control and Brembo brakes. Performance oriented.

The Cadillac has a giant cargo bay with or without the seats down. Great road trip car, except for the 14 city/19 highway miles per gallon. You pay a price for the horsepower.

The Cadillac CTS-V features a six-speed automatic transmission, making it less rare than a manual, but no less impressive in terms of speed. And look at CarMax’s key photo. Are they trying to make me think it comes with two keys by showing the emergency key in the photo? Shame.

The heart and soul of the Cadillac CTS-V wagon is the 6.2-liter supercharged V-8, based on the Corvette LS9 (from the ZR1), which produces 556 horsepower. Historically, the small block motor has been quite reliable; yet, I’d still opt for Maxcare, given some reports of trouble with the Magnetic Ride Control shocks and leaking rear differentials. Honestly, I suspect the shocks are not covered by MaxCare, but an inspection during the first 90 days or 4,000 miles should tell you if they’re healthy. If not, insist on replacement by CarMax or return the car and get your money back.

Typically, an American car like this would be eligible for MaxCare for an additional five years and up to 150,000 odometer miles. Oddly, CarMax has dropped the MaxCare terms on its website for all cars, it seems. What’s up with that? I will have to ask them and report back. I dislike this intensely.

Today, there are 18 CTS-V wagons on Autotrader and six on Cars.com. Not a lot out there. One has almost the same mileage and is $6,000 more. A few have only 10-15,000 miles and are selling for astronomical prices ($90k), and a few of the rare manual transmission models are also commanding high prices. This one is very reasonably priced at $57k and 32,000 miles. The 2014 Cadillac CTS-V wagon was sold new for approximately $75,000. In eleven years, it hasn’t depreciated all that much, but it is an unusual, limited-production car. At the moment, this Cadillac is being shipped to Ellicott City, MD, near Baltimore. Here’s the link to track it.

Stock No: 26709277 VIN: 1G6DV8EP8E0125037

KEEP SCROLLING FOR MY LE MANS JIBBER JABBER

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM LE MANS 2025

Something special about a 24-hour race on an almost 8.5-mile track. I first visited Le Mans in 1981, when I lived in Germany, and a round-trip bus tour and ticket cost around $100. Just over an hour after the start, a car broke at 215 mph, killing a race marshal and injuring others, while the driver walked away uninjured. Half an hour safety car. Shortly after racing resumed, Jean-Louis Lafosse crashed his Rondeau at full speed, killing him instantly. Thirty-minute safety car. This was my first auto race ever. A brutal introduction to that high-stakes, high-speed world. Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell won overall in a Porsche 936. It was a hoot to watch Cale Yarborough race a NASCAR-derived Chevrolet Camaro (same car, sort of, as the 1978 Camaro I had shipped to Germany!) with a big ole V-8, that wrecked just 13 laps in. Also fun, a few BMW M1 race entries. Collector cars all now.

I returned in 1983, and the Porsche 956’s dominated, finishing in nine of the top 10 slots. American Al Holbert won, limping to the finish by holding a broken door closed with one hand and nursing a pretty much blown engine across the line, with Jacky Ickx hot on his tail and running out of fuel as he finished the race. I enjoyed watching the peculiar Mazda 717C, with its rotary motor, buzz its way to a class win in Group C Junior. No fatalities in this race.

Living in Germany again decades later, I returned to Le Mans in 2009 and 2010 with friends from work in Stuttgart. A Peugeot turbo-diesel-hybrid V-12 (didn’t know there was such a thing) won the race, but the fun was watching Corvettes race nose to tail after 23 hours to take first and second in GT1. A few years later, I watched them do that again at my first 24 Hours of Daytona, changing positions on the last lap twice, I think. In 2010, Audis dominated the podium, taking first through third in V-10 turbo-diesel-hybrids again.

In 2014, I traveled to Le Mans from the US with my best friend, Alan, and his son, Daniel, to see Audi win again with a turbo-diesel-hybrid. Alan was so impressed that he made his next car an Audi A6 turbo-diesel (no hybrid) that he loved until it munched a deer in Pennsylvania. Among the highlights was that, after much beer, I took the bus to watch the race from the end of the Mulsanne straight at sunrise. Enjoyed it, napped a bit, and in line to take the bus back to the grandstands, I chatted with an American and his son about how cool it was to see the race from Mulsanne. When he informed me that I was not, in fact, at Mulsanne, but at the Arnage turn, I realized I had goofed. Oh boy. They fed me a mimosa, and I caught the bus to Mulsanne to watch the race some more before returning to the grandstands for the finish with Alan and Daniel.

Can we get on with the 2025 race we came here to read about?!

Surprisingly, the Cadillacs locked up the front row in qualifying (Picture at the top.) I was excited for them, but the race didn’t go as well as qualifying. As noted above, though, one of them finished fourth overall, and I’m impressed with their return to Le Mans. I’ve seen them win at Daytona and hope they will be back.

The #81 Corvette above finished in third in their class. Disappointing, as I’ve seen them win here and at Daytona and know they are capable of more. The Mustangs were fun to watch, but only the #77 finished in ninth, while the #88 crashed out. Le Mans had two races on Friday and Saturday, “Mustang Challenges”, featuring a couple of dozen Dark Horse Mustangs driven by a diverse range of racers. I missed them both. Ford Motor Company President and CEO Jim Farley drove one of the cars to a 19th-place finish. Kind of cool.

My friend Alan and I bought general admission tickets that get you into the track and seats in the T10 grandstands. On paper, it looks close to the main straightaway and the last covered, reserved seating area. That was once the case. Le Mans has added grandstands, and we were further left than expected, where cars exited the pits back onto the track. At a minimum, reserved seats like these provide top cover from rain and sun and a safe place to hole up if the weather goes bad. We would have liked to be closer to the start/finish, and in fact, we were able to weasel our way there at the end. There’s plenty of space in front of the reserved seating at the start/finish to put camp chairs with just a general admission ticket, and they are wide open all night long. About three hours before the finish, though, squatters stake out their concrete, and it gets very crowded. We sat on the pavement for three hours to hold our spots and see the finish.

Alan scored a campsite for us late in May as the event approached. The best way to get Le Mans tickets (admission, grandstands, parking, and campsites) is to join the French Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) for 80 Euro when tickets first go on sale. Because of a jammed schedule and my procrastination, I failed this year. But auto enthusiast forums assured folks that as the race approaches, tickets show up regularly on the ACO official resale page, and they did. We got the T10 reserved seats in April and the campsite in May. It all worked out.

You all probably knew this, but I only learned a few years ago two fascinating things about endurance racing. One is that the nighttime pace is only maybe a second off the daytime pace. I would have thought the darkness and risk of outdriving the headlights would push speed down. The second is that I would have thought for an endurance race, the cars would be pushed to maybe 9/10’s to lessen the strain and make it 24 hours. Not the case. The cars go all out all the time, for the entire race. At Daytona, the winners spend a total of about 30 minutes in the pits over the course of the race. Tires, gas, and driver changes, and back on the track. Maybe a quick brake job. What’s fascinating is that Le Mans takes place in June, with approximately 16 hours of daylight driving, and Daytona occurs in January, with perhaps 10 hours of daylight. The difference is night and day. Ha!

Check this out. A Pontiac Le Mans, at Le Mans! And another Baltimore Ravens fan!

While the radio shot above was entertaining, I most enjoyed the interview with (eventual) winner Robert Kubica after his Sunday morning stint and before he returned to his non-factory team Ferrari, to win the race. He had been dueling with the two factory Ferraris for a long time and was in third, I think. I cannot find it exactly on the web, but it went something like this:

Interviewer: “Was that last stint as much fun for you as it was for us to watch?”

Robert Kubica: “No.”

Interviewer: “Are you pleased that you just had the fastest lap of the race?”

Robert Kubica: “No. I want to win. Why are you holding the microphone like that?”

As the race wound down, we heard Robert Kubica on the radio after he passed the two red Ferraris in his yellow AF Corse Ferrari, predicting, “They aren’t going to let us win.”, and we all wondered if he would be ordered to let the factory teams pass for a 1-2 finish, putting him third. It was cool to see that they didn’t, and he deservedly won the race despite all his complaining.

The picture above? Lighted porta-potties! I’ve never seen such a thing. It was remarkable that these and the permanent bathrooms were cleaned regularly and usable on day two. When I first visited Le Mans in 1981, I recall approaching a public toilet that resembled a concrete bunker with no roof. A cleaning lady charged us a few French centimes to enter, and inside, we found a dirt floor and four walls we could pee on. No drain. Things have improved.

After the race, I flew to Portugal, and my wife joined me for a week’s vacation. I’m sure I have gotten some of this wrong, but two weeks after the race, it’s what I recall. As a former marathon runner, I really appreciate the endurance of long-distance driving and racing. I enjoyed seeing Le Mans again with my best friend. I’m already booked for the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona. I wonder if I will return to France for this unbelievable race again?