Latest news with #CadillacHouse
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
Mystery Aussie snaps up $1m Cadillac Celestiq EV
A mystery Aussie has spent as much as $1 million on an opulent electric Cadillac they can never drive on Australian roads. The wealthy enthusiast splashed out on an exotic Cadillac Celestiq that starts from $US358,000 ($549,000), but can double in price with optional extras. Crafted as an American alternative to Rolls-Royce, the Celestiq employs staggering attention to detail to make American luxury cars great again. Cadillac can customise just about every part of the Celestiq – but it can't build the vehicle in right-hand-drive. Aletha Israels, a Celestiq Concierge employed by Cadillac to keep its wealthiest customers happy, said a determined collector flew from Australia to Detroit to customise their dream Caddy. 'The intention was for the vehicle to be delivered to the States for him, not to Australia,' she said. 'A lot of our clients fly in and out in the same day in private jets. 'You're going to start hearing a lot more from our clients this summer, after they start taking delivery of the car.' The manufacturer's most expensive and exclusive machine attracts ultra-wealthy folk who personalise their vehicle at a special 'Cadillac House' in Michigan. Israel said customers can 'easily' double the price of the car with intricate touches fine-tuning its colour and trim. You can match the paint to a favourite nail polish, use timber from the family farm as interior trim, and engrave personal messages on metal elements such as the door sills. The default message on cabin elements is 'standard of the world', a message that reflects Cadillac's ambition to make the world's best cars. Israel said customers can tweak that to their own tastes. 'They could put their own motto, or live laugh love, whatever they want to do,' she said. 'The more bespoke you make it, the more the price point can increase … especially if you want customisations that explore some of the areas that may need some additional testing,' she said. 'Seat belts and steering wheels are the most expensive area of the car to touch. 'One of the requests that we had that was quite pricey was to change the perforation detail on the seats, and because this is the most technologically advanced Cadillac, to change the perforation detail on these seats with heating, cooling and massage, a lot of testing is required.' Israel's team works closely with the millionaire – or billionaire – clients, even working with their staff to make sure the customer's favourite snacks, drinks and flowers are on hand when they come to visit. Cadillac rarely says no to special requests from customers, but occasionally must say 'yes, but …' and explain the consequence of choices that drive up prices or delay delivery. 'I find this level of client wants transparency,' she said. 'So we clearly present to them the options and what their choice would be, but, you know, there's two motivators for them, time and price point. 'Only they can decide how they feel. 'Every client has a Cadillac story, whether it's their parents, their grandfather, someone that they have this connection to, or a classic Cadillac in their collection. 'We're finding ways to help them tell that person's story too, whether it's taking the original license plate number and building it into the sill plates or coming up with very unique ways to have the colour palette reproduced. 'You see a lot of appetite for that right now.'
Motor Trend
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Personalizing the $340,000 Cadillac Celestiq Is Crazy and Crazy Fun
Driving the Cadillac Celestiq is one thing; crafting one to suit your personal taste is another. It all starts with a signal of interest, whether through a dealer recommendation, contact with executives, or simply registering on Cadillac's website. (Don't get any ideas; all applications are fully vetted before moving forward.) This kicks off a process where one of four in-house concierges gets to know you and your personal likes and dislikes, learns your history with Cadillac, and introduces you to the broad spectrum of trim, color, and material choices. These design sessions are typically done via one or more video calls, and the options are narrowed down to a small number of favorites. The next step is for the buyer to visit Cadillac House at the fabulously midcentury modern, Eero Saarinen–designed GM Tech Center in Michigan. We went through an abbreviated version of this process at Cadillac House and were blown away by the attention to detail, the building itself, and the skill of the concierges, who come from the worlds of fine art, automotive design, fashion design, and high-end furniture. Upon arrival, buyers are greeted by their personal concierge and their favorite refreshments before moving to a small sculpture garden. This area is populated with painted shapes and figures chosen to demonstrate how lustrous the Celestiq's 90-plus standard colors can be—even the blacks—all of which are available in metallic or matte finish. Next comes a full walkaround and ride and drive of a sample Celestiq to make what's until that point only been discussed over video into something tangible. If the buyer has a deep affinity for a past Cadillac model—maybe they own one, or their grandfather did—Cadillac will pull an example from its heritage fleet to display on the floor of Cadillac House as inspiration. Final trim, color, and material selection then happens at a large table, which will be laid out with samples of favorites from the video consultations. Should you need more options, a nearby wall is made from motorized doors that open to reveal lighted cubbies holding scale sculptures of the car in nearly all the available paints, the wheel designs, chunks of interior trim, and swatches of leather, fabric, and carpet in myriad hues. Various etchings and imagery can be applied to the metal pieces, too, including the wheels. In all, there are more than 350,000 combinations possible from the baseline set of choices, and Cadillac is also happy to cater to any desire as long as it doesn't run afoul of safety regulations or Cadillac's own brand guidelines. Yes, some buyers have asked if a hood ornament is possible. The answer is no, it's not. The interior has 150 individually hand-wrapped components, so every stitch, panel, piece of piping, and surface can be customized, and you can watch your selections applied in real time on a 10-foot screen as another staff member manipulates software during the conversation. All the while, the concierge is carefully guiding changes and deftly offering suggestions so perfect they seem like they were your idea. If someone winds up with a hideous Celestiq, it won't be the concierges' fault. See All 22 Photos This is our Celestiq build as rendered by Cadillac's design program. It's pretty rad, if we do say so ourselves—check out more images in the gallery. How long the process takes depends on a lot of factors, only one of which is the actual assembly of the car. (Although that's not a quick process; the 12-coat paint takes two weeks to apply by hand alone.) The buyer's personal schedule, their level of decisiveness, if they want to order off-menu, and whether they even have a design point of view can all affect the timeline. Our concierge said the average time from start to completion is three to four months, although some clients have completed their choices in as little as 45 minutes and another has been in the design process for more than a year. Based on our experiences at Cadillac House and behind the wheel, your own bespoke Celestiq is worth however long it takes.
