$650,000 for a Cadillac? Absurd. $650,000 for a hand-assembled, fully-custom, one-of-one, electric Cadillac with cutting-edge technology and innovations that eclipse even that of Bentley and Rolls-Royce? Now that’s more like it.

This is the Cadillac Celestiq (pronounced sell-ess-tick), a built-to-order four-door hatchback that harks back to the longroof wagons and personal luxury cars that once dominated the North American market. As the General Motors VP of Global Design puts it, they want to ‘reinvent American automotive luxury’. For a pretty penny, clearly, but when you view it from the lens that this is a rare, American-made piece of street furniture that wouldn’t look out of place at Pebble Beach, we’re more inclined to agree. 

The proportions are almost farcical. The Celestiq measures 5,516 mm in length and stands only 1,452 mm in height, making it longer than a regular-wheelbase Escalade, but just short of a Rolls-Royce Phantom. It’s not a beautiful car in the traditional sense, but the imaginative rear end inspired by Cadillac’s concept cars exudes road presence and makes us optimistic about their new design direction. Frankly, we still think the Celestiq looks like a concept car, but it is now a full-production vehicle – that’s how far-fetched its angles and dimensions appear, especially when parked next to more conventionally styled sedans like the Toyota Camry or Acura TLX. Adorned in Siku Tricoat Metallic paint, this pearlescent hue further accentuates its silhouette, shimmering with faint cerulean tones like sunshine bouncing off the tips of an Arctic glacier.

Rarity is all but guaranteed. Only six dealerships in Canada are allowed to sell the Celestiq, and only six cars have been allocated to our market this year. Order one and it will take about a year to build. Why so long? Because it isn’t like ordering a mainstream Cadillac, such as an Escalade or Lyriq. The Celestiq is a fully customizable vehicle where the sky’s the limit (actually, your wallet size dictates that ceiling), or as Cadillac proclaims, ‘it’s the art of individuality’. The purchase experience mimics that of other coach-built vehicles. Buyers are assigned a personal design concierge who can bring their dream to reality by choosing fabrics, materials, and designs for the Celestiq. Do you want certain types of wood materials embedded into the cabin, or perhaps a specific, meaningful paint colour? Cadillac says that nothing is off the table. Sources even indicate that one American buyer customized theirs for up to $1.3 million USD, which provides a rough estimate of what we’re dealing with.

Some might scoff at that price, but a closer look at the luxury goods market reveals the same practices. Imagine if Hermès came up to you, a loyal patron and collector of limited-edition Birkins and Kellys, and asked if you wanted a custom, one-of-a-kind handbag that could be personalized with any materials or colours, and charged you $1 million. I am sure most of these high-net-worth individuals wouldn’t even bat an eye and transfer the funds to Paris immediately. The problem with Cadillac comes down to brand association and quality, but spending some time with the Celestiq might make you a believer.

The interior dazzles with both top-shelf materials and visual drama – no expense was spared. What appears to be metal is indeed metal. Authentic materials are present throughout, from the buttery leather seats to the felt-lined cupholders and the suede headliner. Even the metal window switches and door latch feel more expensive than on the new S-Class. We can’t find a shared GM panel anywhere that we can dissect and penalize, nor are there any cheap, glossy black panels in sight. Every touchpoint is immaculate, as you would expect at this price.

The crystal rotary dial is our favourite touch – it sparkles and is so bright that we can catch our reflections in it. And that logo in the center? Cadillac have resurrected its mascot from the 1930s, the Cadillac Goddess, the sister, if you will, to Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Ecstasy. Back then, it was common to have a hood ornament. Mercedes had one too.

The number of Easter Eggs you will find inside the Celestiq surpasses even that of Jeep. There are hidden Cadillac logos in the metal door panels, ‘Standard of the World’ scripts on the coat hooks and leather strap hinges, coordinates of its place of birth on the dashboard, and even an illuminated Cadillac crest behind the dashboard facing forward, so oncoming traffic knows precisely what you are driving. Furthermore, when you open the center console cover, you will find the silhouettes of Cadillac’s lineage etched into the metal, showcasing the Eldorado through to the Celestiq. 

There are no door handles here; a round button in the B-pillar activates the automatic front and rear doors. The individual rear bucket seats are cossetting and supportive, each complemented by its own section of glass roof. Through the center touchscreen, you can adjust the amount of light that shines through each of the four sections, and it morphs from opaque to transparent in less than a second, making you feel cocooned inside your own individual pod. Those who have flown in first or business class know this feeling well. And while Asian and European airlines have distilled this segment down to a science in the skies, this American carrier appears to be getting its mojo back again.

The Celestiq is a rolling piece of art that also happens to go like stink. Utilizing GM’s Ultium architecture that consists of a 111-kWh lithium-ion battery and two electric motors, the Celestiq produces 655 hp and 646 lb-ft of torque through single-speed gearboxes on each axle. That puts it squarely against the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Audi e-tron GT quattro, but Cadillac’s claimed 0-100 km/h time of 4.0 seconds makes it clear that speed isn’t the primary goal.

Instead, it’s about comfort, road compliance, and being equipped with every piece of technology known to humanity, including an active air suspension with magnetorheological shocks, rear-wheel steering, active anti-roll bars, adaptive all-wheel drive, and active aerodynamic elements on the rear spoiler and front grille shutters. 

During our brief drive of the Celestiq on familiar roads, we came away impressed by its low-speed maneuverability and agility. Despite its considerable width on the road and the fact that you still need to be cautious of its footprint, the Celestiq rotates on a dime and is easy to control. There is a certain deftness to the steering, and it is heavy by EV standards, but it’s full of feel and you can accurately place the front wheels where you want.

The Celestiq shifts its weight well, with still a bit of body roll pushing you into the leather side bolsters when carrying too much entry speed, but it’s not unwieldy. It rides well, but not to the level of a Continental GT or Spectre. The Cadillac rides busier with more vertical oscillations filtering into the driver’s seat, and there’s more unwanted movement in the way it settles after negotiating broken roads, but there’s no easy fix for operating such a heavy electric vehicle. On that note, our driving yielded a computer estimate of 470 km on a full electric charge. 

We did discover a few minor points of concern, all of which can be easily forgiven due to the rarified air that the Celestiq breathes in, but are worth mentioning nonetheless. The driving position isn’t well-suited for my tall, lanky figure, as you sit pretty high up due to the battery placement under the floorbed. The pedals are also positioned quite close, so rather than feeling integrated into the vehicle, you feel like you are sitting on top of it. The B-pillars are ridiculously thick and eat into blind spot visibility, and the view out the rear bunker-slit windshield isn’t great either. The rear windows don’t roll all the way down, constrained by the door shape. There is also a front trunk, but it’s relatively small.

Half a million dollars goes a long way in the upper echelons of automotive luxury, a space that Bentley and Rolls-Royce have long established as their own, catering to VIP clients with databases that stretch towards the moon. But every brand has to start somewhere, and Cadillac, with a long and storied history, finally wants to fight back and establish brand cache where it matters most with a hand-built, fully-commissioned EV. 

Wrong time with the wrong product? Au contraire. With Cadillac returning to the top step of motorsport in Formula 1 and its competitiveness in sports car racing with the fan-favourite V-Series.R LMDh, now is the perfect time to return to coach building and market the Celestiq as a halo product that the brand deserves. Whether it becomes successful or not doesn’t really matter. If the design, engineering feats, and, more importantly, the emotional draw of the Celestiq trickle down to Cadillac’s more conventional models, then everyone takes the chequered flag.

(Special thanks to Antonio Chan at Markville Cadillac for loaning us their Cadillac Celestiq for review)

Specifications:

Model: 2025 Cadillac Celestiq
Paint Type: Siku Tricoat Metallic
Price as Tested: $650,000 (estimated)
Wheelbase(mm): 3,307
Length/Width/Height (mm): 5,516 / 2,080 / 1,452
Powertrain: 111 kWh lithium-ion battery, two electric motors
Horsepower: 655 hp
Torque: 646 lb-ft
Drive Configuration: Dual electric motors, AWD
Observed Range: 470 km
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport EV; 285/35R23