Before The Celestiq, These Were The Most Expensive Cadillacs Ever Built

In case you hadn't heard, Cadillac's latest flagship model is called the Celestiq, and it has a starting price of $340,000. For the cost of a modest house, buyers get a hand-built EV that offers opulent luxury and ultra-modern technology, which includes a 655-horsepower dual-motor setup that's capable of rocketing the fastback from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds. 

In addition to its atmospheric MSRP, the production process of the Cadillac Celestiq is also very different from any other vehicle in the automaker's portfolio. This allows customers to outfit their Celestiq with bespoke personalization. One such option is the unique sourcing of materials. For instance, customers can incorporate wood from a tree in their very own yard.  

After getting over the lavish touches, the eye-watering price tag got us wondering which Cadillac models were most expensive before the Celestiq hit the scene. To answer this question, we decided to take a look at the most expensive model of each decade since the 1950s. To clarify, we're talking original MSRPs, not auction prices. 

Back in the late 1950s, Cadillac reportedly lost money on each Eldorado Brougham it sold. This includes the 1959 model, which had a price tag of over $13,000, making it the most expensive Cadi of the decade next to the '57 and '58 models. For reference, the second-most expensive Cadillac in 1959 was the Fleetwood 75 limousine, which had an original MSRP of just under $10,000.

The 1959 Eldorado Brougham had an even higher cost of production due to the fact that these cars had been shipped overseas to Pininfarina in Italy for hand-crafted body work. With the Italian craftsmanship completed, the cars were then shipped back to the states. It's no wonder, then, that only 99 units were produced for 1959.

If we were working off of recent transaction prices rather than original MSRPs, these old-school Brougham sedans would likely still make the list. Earlier this year, a '58 model crossed the block for over $190,000. That said, it likely would've been outshone by the Biarritz two-door convertible. According to Hagerty, a 1959 Brougham is valued at approximately $165,000 versus $278,000 for a Biarritz of the same year, despite the fact that the former is much more exclusive. 

As we mentioned, the Fleetwood 75 nameplate held the position for the second-most expensive Cadillac in the '50s. As we move into the '60s, the Fleetwood moves to the top of the list of most expensive Cadi models in a decade. Well, sort of. 

In 1969, the base price of a Fleetwood 75 limousine was a hair under $11,000. That much coin provided occupants with a luxuriously comfortable cabin, courtesy of features like automatic air conditioning and a self-leveling suspension system. 

Technically, the aforementioned Eldorado Brougham was still the most expensive Cadillac in the 1960s with its sticker price of $13,075. However, only 101 of those were sold before the nameplate was put to bed. As such, we figured the Fleetwood deserved some recognition since it held the title for nine-tenths of the decade. That's not to take away from the Eldorado, which was regarded as the top-of-the-line model for folks who didn't have chauffeurs.

Ah, the '70s. The golden era of American muscle may have been coming to a close, but the Fleetwood 75 limo was continuing its reign as the most expensive model in Cadillac's portfolio. 

Initially, we thought the Eldorado would take this decade, especially after a popular YouTube video led us to believe that it was the most expensive Cadillac back in 1977. Although the Eldorado Biarritz was considered to be the luxury automaker's flagship model, its sticker price of about $13,000 in 1977 was lower than the price of a Fleetwood 75 limousine of the same year, which was nearly $18,500. This was still true in '79 even though the Eldorado's MSRP grew to almost $17,500 when equipped with the Biarritz leather package, as the Fleetwood 75 limo's price swelled to over $22,500. 

Of course, present-day demand for these two models of this vintage does not reflect the original pricing. According to Hagerty's valuation tool, the average price for a '78 Fleetwood 75 Formal Limousine is less than $10,000. Comparatively, a base '78 Eldorado goes for about $13,000 on average, while a Biarritz gets about $17,000. JD Power shows an even larger discrepancy for the '79 model year, with an average retail price of $2,175 for the Fleetwood and $12,050 for the Eldorado. These differences in today's value are likely why most folks think the Eldorado was the pricier model back when these vehicles were new. 

For the 1980s, we see another Pininfarina-designed vehicle crowned as the most expensive Cadillac model of the decade. The Allante's looks, however, aren't nearly as fetching as the Eldorado Brougham's. While the latter is a bit iconic, the former is rather forgetful.

Regardless of subjective impressions about its attractiveness, or lack thereof, the Cadillac Allante was objectively expensive. In 1989, its lofty sticker price was over $57,000. That's not too far off from the price of one of the best Cadillacs you can buy today: the CT4-V Blackwing (though your chance to do so is coming to an end since Cadillac is killing the CT4 and current-generation CT5 after 2026). 

It seems Cadillac learned a lesson in logistics after its first collaboration with the Italian builder, as this time around the bodies of the vehicle were first produced overseas and then flown to Detroit for final assembly, resulting in a one-way trip rather than a round trip. In the '80s, the most powerful engine stuffed under the hood was a 200-horsepower 4.5-liter V8. Then, in '93, Cadillac upped the ante and went with the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 which produced nearly 300 horsepower and almost an equal amount of torque. Front-wheel burnouts for the win. 

Despite the hardware upgrades, the Allante actually isn't the most expensive model offered by Cadillac in the '90s. Spoiler alert: it's not the Escalade either. 

It's true that the Escalade was the most expensive Cadillac model produced at a GM factory; however, it wasn't the most expensive Cadillac you could buy. That right goes to the Fleetwood Limited, which had a base MSRP of about $51,000 compared to $46,525 for the Escalade. Notably, only 467 Fleetwood Limited units were produced for the 1999 model year.

Although the Fleetwood Limited was produced by a custom coachbuilder out of Lima, Ohio, it was offered for sale by select Cadillac dealers throughout the country who also warrantied and serviced the DeVille-based model. One of the many modifications made to the platform during the coachbuilding process included stretching the wheelbase to nearly 120 inches, which resulted in an overall length of almost 222 inches and provided a half-foot of extra space for occupants in the back seat. 

The increased dimensions weren't the only changes made, as the process also included more lavish touches to the interior. Such enhancements include a wooden writing table for the rear seat, a fold-away TV equipped with a VCR, and hands-free cell phone capability. Today such tech is entirely obsolete, but in 1999 this was as good as it got. 

One aspect that wasn't changed, though, was the powertrain. As such, the Fleetwood Limited stuck with the Northstar V8, an engine that gets such a bad rap due to a litany of issues. That makes the next entry on this list a little bit awkward.

In 2009, an Escalade ESV Platinum Edition had a base MSRP of about $86,500. This was pretty high, but the sticker price on the XLR-V supercharged hard-top convertible was even higher at more than $104,000. We're sure sticker shock had something to do with the XLR-V's underwhelming sales success, as less than 2,200 were built and sold during the span of four model years. For reference, less than 14,500 regular XLRs were sold during its life cycle, which spanned the 2004 through 2009 model years.

We did call out the Northstar V8 for its problematic reputation; however, the hand-built, supercharged 4.4-liter unit found under the hood of the XLR-V doesn't tend to suffer from the same woes as the earlier, naturally aspirated Northstar V8s. It also makes 440 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque. So, while the regular XLR is rightfully on the list of cars you want to buy but are too scared to own, the supercharged XLR-V should be a less intimidating venture.

In addition to this stout powertrain, the XLR-V also offered other mechanical enhancements over the non-V XLR, including larger brakes borrowed from the Z51 Corvette, a beefier suspension setup with retuned Magnetic Ride Control, a power steering fluid cooler, and auxiliary engine and transmission oil coolers. Exterior refinements were also included in an effort to make the XLR-V stand out when compared to its more pedestrian counterpart, such as "XLR-V" and "Supercharged" badging. 

The XLR-V was also the first-ever Cadillac to be equipped with what the automaker dubbed the Adaptive Forward Lighting System, which adjusted the headlamp up to 15 degrees based on steering angle as well as the vehicle's speed. That said, my 2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X featured similar technology, and its MSRP was less than half of the XLR-V's. Then again, it didn't offer Corvette-like handling with a supercharged V8. 

For 2010 to 2019, the most expensive Cadillac designation would go to the Escalade ESV Platinum if we were using base pricing. The CTS-V was very close behind, with the former having a base price of $97,295 for the 2019 model year and the latter starting at about $87,000. However, our research indicates that the 2019 CTS-V could cost well over $100,000, and possibly as much as $110,000. The Escalade, on the other hand, only grew to about $106,000 when we added available options to the top-of-the-line ESV Platinum model. 

It's possible that the figures are even closer than we've estimated, resulting in a tie. If that's the case, we'd still give this spot to the CTS-V, as the Escalade-V takes the crown for the following decade (at least so far). 

For those who might not be familiar, the third-generation CTS-V represented the end of the line for the nameplate, though it lives on in its indirect successor, the CT5-V Blackwing. Like the Blackwing, its propulsion was generated by a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8, though it "only" made 640 horsepower at the time. A more important distinction is the fact that this model was only available with an automatic transmission, as a manual was not offered. 

When we used Cadillac's online configurator tool to build out our very own 2026 Escalade-V ESV, we reached an MSRP of just under $196,000. We did the same for a fully loaded 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Le Monstre Edition, but we could only get it to about $189,000 using the configurator tool. Bummer. 

Anyways, both models feature a hand-built, supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8, though the one under the hood of the heavier Escalade puts out 682 horsepower and 653 pound-feet of torque. Despite weighing over 6,500 pounds, this behemoth can rocket to 60 miles per hour in less than 4.5 seconds thanks to that blown V8 and an all-wheel drivetrain. In addition to its straight-line performance, the Escalade-V ESV can also tow up to 7,000 pounds. That's 200 pounds less compared to the regular-length Escalade-V, and 1,000 pounds less than the regular Escalade ESV with rear-wheel drive. 

Aside from its mechanical accolades, the Escalade-V provides its occupants with top-shelf automotive luxury, offering everything from front and rear self-opening and closing doors, to a 38-speaker AKG audio system, to night vision and Super Cruise hands-free technology. 

It seems the Escalade-V is doing its best to be the perfect blend of the sentiments behind the sayings, "you get what you pay for" and "you can't race a house, but you can sleep in a car." To that end, who cares if it costs as much as a modest house?

Despite having slightly less power than the Escalade-V and being only rear-wheel drive, the lighter weight and tiny bit of extra torque enable the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing to reach 60 miles per hour in less than 3.5 seconds when equipped with the 10-speed automatic gearbox. As we mentioned, the price of a fully loaded, limited edition CT5-V Blackwing Le Monstre is within $7,000 of the most expensive Escalade. That said, we should note that this comparison includes 2025 pricing for the CT5, and 2026 pricing for the Escalade. 

For those who may not know, only 101 units of the Le Monstre edition were built for the 2025 model year. The limited run features exclusive equipment, such as blue carbon fiber components, and adds $32,500 to the sticker price. When building out our model for the price comparison, we ticked the box for the highly desirable Precision Package, which includes a myriad of mechanical upgrades, including stiffer springs, stiffer suspension bushings, redesigned steering knuckles, tweaks to calibrations for the Magnetic Ride Control and eLSD, plus the carbon ceramic brake upgrade. 

For the 2026 model year, Cadillac is rolling out the "Curated by Cadillac" for the CT5-V Blackwing, which allows customers to personalize their factory-ordered car with a broader range of options. Such options include 160 different hand-painted exterior finishes along with unique interior materials and colors. According to Cadillac's vice president, John Roth, the automaker is using what it's learned from production of the Celestiq in order to offer this level of customization on the CT5-V Blackwing. 

Pricing for a 2026 CT5-V Blackwing through the Curated by Cadillac program starts at $158,000. In addition to its high price point, this model will also be extremely limited. For reference, Cadillac only built 21 units when the automaker offered a similar program for the 2024 model year. 

Like we mentioned before, Cadillac plans to discontinue both the CT4 and CT5 after 2026. Unlike the CT5, however, the automaker doesn't have any plans for a CT4 replacement. As such, we felt the most expensive CT4 model deserved an honorable mention, which is the 2025 CT4-V Blackwing Petit Pataud Edition. With a base price of $88,590 and a limited run of just 50 units, it's as expensive as it is exclusive. 

However, much to the chagrin of CT4-V Blackwing advocates like me, there are more than 10 of these up for grabs throughout the country right now. Looks like the market is unimpressed, which is understandable since these prices make the smaller, less powerful CT4-V Blackwing cost nearly as much as the CT5-V Blackwing with its big bad V8. 

Still, we can appreciate the fact that Cadillac named the limited edition model after the race car that ran a faster time at Le Mans back in the day, along with the fact that the CT4-V Blackwing utilizes a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 that isn't shared with any other model in GM's portfolio. Plus, it really is a better daily driver than its bigger brother for the same reasons that make it easier to wield at the track. If you can agree with all of these points, then you're halfway to doing something as silly as spending $90,000 on what is effectively an appearance package for a performance sedan that apparently no one else wants to buy.