Back in the early aughts, executives at took a look at what the Germans were up to and decided that they wanted to distance the company’s longstanding association with stodgy land yachts. Keen to reel in a younger demographic, the stateside automaker introduced the in 2003, a line of high-performance models designed to go toe-to-toe with those from the likes of BMW’s M division and AMG. By 2008, Cadillac had captured the Nürburgring lap record for production with the CTS-V—a midsize, rear-wheel-drive sedan that packed a variant of the supercharged V-8 that powered the sixth-generation Corvette ZR1. Thus, Cadillac definitively proved that the V-Series badge wasn’t just a marketing exercise.

But while BMW’s high-performance design philosophies have changed significantly in the time since, C

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