Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Discontinued after 2026, and with it, the Final Vestiges of the Front-Engine Corvette are Put to Rest

Forum fanatics strike again! There’s almost nothing cooler in the automotive space than when news is broken because of the passion and relentless attention to detail of real owners and obsessives. The folks over at the Cadillac V-Series Club channeled “The Founder” and the insane run he’s been on in the Era of the C8 Corvette this week when they somehow intercepted a letter attributed to Cadillac Global VP John Roth detailing the impending demise of Caddy’s best vehicles, which was later verified by Car and Driver.

Now GM’s luxury division confirms that the only cars left in its portfolio outside of the “so-expensive you aren’t likely to ever see one” Celestiq EV will ride off into the sunset at the conclusion of the current model year. The retirement includes all versions of the CT4 and CT5 sedans that have filled the prior homes of the ATS and CTS in the hierarchy since 2020. The major blow to driving enthusiasts is, of course, the loss of the “V Blackwing” versions at the top of the range.

Since their debut in 2022, the pair of high-performance, Alpha II platform sedans have been lauded as the culmination and crowning achievement of the sporting V-Series movement that injected some BMW M-style life into the stagnate Wreath and Crest starting in 2004, appearing on C&D’s famed 10Best list every year they’ve been on sale. Unfortunately, the smaller, nimbler, CT4-V Blackwing expires only knowing Twin-Turbo V6 power instead of being granted the taste of the LT2 (or even LT1) V8 that it truly deserved.

Even with that one glaring omission, the 4-VBW was still excellent, in its own right; its big brother, the CT5-V Blackwing, is the one the entire automotive world will be lighting candles for when the line in Lansing goes offline in 2026. It combined the acclaimed architecture and perfect Six-Speed Manual Transmission of the Sixth-Gen Camaro with a classy exterior, upscale interior, and the elimination of common “Panther” gripes with a focus on better sight-lines and usable back seats and storage space. Oh yeah, it also has the ultimate rendition of the C7 Corvette Z06’s LT4 V8 (unless you count the mutant, truck-tuned version with the LT5’s Blower in the Escalade V as a real LT4, which we do not). It makes 668 HP (up 18 from the Z06 and Camaro ZL1) and 659 lb-ft of torque (+9 on the Zs) that rocket the 4,100 lb. family sled to 60 in 3.6 seconds on the way to a 7.7-second 100 MPH sprint and an 11.6 quarter at 125.

Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing is also on the chopping block.

This despondent news comes with a pair of silver linings. While the CT4 is down for the count, Cadillac used the leak to announce that the CT5 would definitely be back at some point, and even better, they assured us that it will have internal combustion power available when it arrives – though they declined to mention if said ICE power would materialize in bent-eight form or not. This information has people wondering if original recipe V-Series/Blackwing cars could continue as well, and with GM’s recent $888,000,000 commitment to building a next-gen Small-Block V8, there’s certainly hope that they will, and that, maybe, just maybe, it could once again share a chassis and production line with a proper re-resurrected Camaro.

As we in Corvetteland are forced to relive the passing of a front-mounted LT4 monster for a third and final time, we are also left licking our chops because of the knowledge that GM’s custom paint and upholstery shop in Detroit is about to have a vacancy.

Source:
Photos by Cadillac

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