Follow us on TwitterBob Lutz Accepts CTS-V Challenge
A lot has been going on at General Motors over the past few months. Fresh out of bankruptcy, the company has worked to project a different image as part of the “New GM” launch.
That includes pushing new product like the Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and others. That has included some impressive steps forward, like the cancellation of the “Vuick” Crossover.
Also new is the “May the Best Car Win campaign” with the much-trumpeted “60 day money back guarantee.” GM’s Bob Lutz, or Maximum Bob as he is known, seems to have taken that tagline to heart.
On a recent company conference call, he challenged anyone to a race with the CTS-V against any other production four-door. GM claims the Cadillac CTS-V is the world’s fastest production sedan, despite a few (unverified) claims to the contrary.
Who knows whether he really intended for anyone to take him up on the offer, but always eager to drum up publicity, Jalopnik eagerly accepted. They offered the Mercedes C63 AMG as a potential competitor, but Mercedes turned down their request for use of the vehicle. Jaguar stepped in instead, with the XFR being the new car of choice.
GM has embraced the whole thing and has created an event called the CTS-V Challenge and it takes place on October 29th at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, N.Y. Cadillac says it is considering all comers – any stock production four-door sedan is eligible to compete.
This is unlike anything we have ever seen before and should provide a lot of good publicity for GM – Lutz seems confident that the CTS-V will prevail. I would tend to agree. May the best car win indeed!
Fortunately, the other competitors are likely to be gearheads. I hope that, once GM has selected the others who will race Lutz (which will obviously be done to provide him with the best chance of success, as anything like this is ALWAYS slanted), those in attendance will pay close attention to the setup of siad CTS-V. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it had r-spec tires, brakes, fluids and tuning as discreetly as possible.
I don’t trust GM at all. It’s almost like everything is fun and games to them these days. Meanwhile, they still owe the government billions. They don’t talk much about that these days.