Manoli Katakis 
After a six month delay, the 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and 2022 CT5-V Blackwing have stepped into the light. And everything we initially reported leading up to their debut was true. They both, indeed, have six-speed manual and 10-speed automatic transmissions. They both, indeed, feature the same engines as before, although engineers were able to squeeze out a bit more power from both.
Upon their official debut, each 2022 Cadillac Blackwing model would have 250 units set aside for reservation starting 7:30 PM ET on Monday, February 1. They were fully booked in minutes. Perhaps because many people realized that it is last call for what’s unfairly being deemed as the bane of humanity. Engines.
“Customers that were not able to successfully reserve one of the first 250 of their preferred model, have the opportunity to sign up for a waitlist and will be contacted by their dealer as soon as more inventory is available,” Cadillac said in a statement. The link to enter the waitlist is here.
These high-performance 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and CT4-V Blackwing sedans also seem to arrive with awkward timing. The “V-Series” phase as we know it is reaching its end. As Cadillac has spent the past 30-ish years trying to learn German, the 118-year-old brand appears to be walking away from speaking to coastal elites in that fashion, and is instead plugging itself into the electric vehicle hive mind.
No more drama and sensation from the roar of their finely-tuned captive explosive devices residing behind a well-vented front grille. Instead comes a more sterile, appliance-like approach to speed and power. Powered by things dug up from mines in far off places. Shipped to and refined over in even farther off places. And then shipped to a battery manufacturing plant. Very eco-friendly, we’re told.
The Cadillac Lyriq EV will be the first entry into the brand’s full plunge into electrification, which could be here by late next year.
Yay.
But before the buzzkill truly sets in, Cadillac has one more dinosaur-juice-drinking peace offering for wealthy performance enthusiasts who haven’t been canceled into bankruptcy. Despite the claim that this is indeed the end, an LT4-powered Cadillac Escalade will eventually show face.
And if that doesn’t scream “CADILLAC,” we don’t know what does.
