Cadillac is busy trimming models from its lineup in anticipation of its new range-topping XTS sedan. A few weeks ago, the automaker ended production of its STS sedan and, this week, the last full-size DTS was produced.
The last DTS was nabbed by Nicola Bulgari, the vice chairman of the luxury goods firm that bears his family’s name. Bulgari is an avid car collector with a distinct interest in Cadillacs; his collection has more than a dozen examples of the crest-and-wreath brand’s models, including two 1940s limousines used by the Vatican for the Papal motorcade. Intriguingly, the collection also includes two Cadillac BLSs – the short-lived, Saab 9-3-based entry-level Cadillac offered for the European market.
Bulgari keeps the collection in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and in Rome, Italy.
“I like the DTS because it’s a great sedan,” Bulgari said in a release. “It’s the last of an era. I thought it would be wonderful to own the last Northstar in a DTS. It’s one of the best engines ever designed – reliable and a performer.”
End of the line for the DeVille
The last DTS, a black sedan with a light interior and chrome wheels, marks the end of an era for GM’s historic DeVille nameplate. Just as the STS ushered out the remnants of the Seville badge, the DTS carried on the Deville monniker – as in, Deville Touring Sedan.
The DeVille nameplate first appeared in 1949, when the Coupe de Ville hit the market as an upscale, personal luxury-oriented version of the Cadillac Series 62. It was an immediate hit, although it took GM until 1956 to offer a four-door variant. From then on, the badge was applied to the most up-market versions of Cadillac’s models, all the way to 1994, when the nameplate was shortened to DeVille. That model, the first to ride on the K-Body architecture that also underpins Bulgari’s new DeVille, offered Cadillac’s then-new Northstar V8.
The name was further shortened for the 2006 model year, when the DTS was unveiled as a sharper, but still posh interpretation of the original de Ville. DTS shared its platform with the outgoing DeVille, but consumer models were only offered with five seats – not a front bench. Although sales were generally fairly strong during the DTS’ lifespan, GM has chosen to consolidate the STS and DTS lines in a new all-wheel-drive model set to be formally unveiled this fall.
For now, the Hamtramck, Michigan, assembly plant will focus on building only the Chevrolet Volt until the automaker begins assembly of its next-generation Chevrolet Impala.
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