In automotive anniversaries this year, Porsche celebrates its 75th year as a concern, Ferrari celebrates its return to the top class of endurance racing after 50 years, and Cadillac celebrates the 20th anniversary of the V-Series sub-brand. Technically, China’s anniversary (like pottery) doesn’t come until next year. The V entered the 2004 Sebring SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge GT race as a competition car called the CTS-VR, which matched the street-legal CTS-V with a 5.7 making 400 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque. liter V8 that shifts through a six-speed manual. Since then, there have been 13 V-Series road cars across four generations, culminating in today’s lineup of five models that includes, for the first time, an SUV. Who would have thought then that Cadillac and BMW would be the last two automakers to offer manual transmissions in sport sedans? Cadillac says it plans to celebrate the trim’s endurance later this year, so we could see some 2024-model-year offerings with some commemorative swag. On the racing side the celebrations are already off to a good start. Two Cadillac Racing V-LMDh racers will line up on the front row for this weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. On top of that, the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R running today’s FIA World Endurance Championship race in the Hypercar class has a strong top 10 position. This June, the IMSA and FIA versions of the Ganassi cars will compete at Le Mans, Cadillac’s first factory-backed entries in a French race since 2000. We don’t know what the “new features and products celebrating the V-Series’ 20th anniversary” will be. We’ve seen spy shots of the CT5-V Blackwing featuring new headlights and a complex lower intake, and some reports say the Blackwing interior will take cues from the Lyric for a big-time spruce-up. We’ve also been warned that Cadillac plans to show off three new electric models this year, all slated for production in 2024; We know that the names Ascendiq, Lumistiq, Optiq, Symboliq, and Vistiq and the Escalade IQ and IQL badges have already been spotted on the trademarks. And if Cadillac’s accessories website proves to be a fool, there may even be a V-Series version of the Lyric in development.
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