AutoTrader Find of the Week: An American Wagon that Put Ferrari to Shame

Everybody loves a station wagon. Even though, for some reason, nobody on this side of the Atlantic really seems to buy them.

As an automotive journalist, I never get more compliments and interest from enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike than on the rare occasion when I’m reviewing and testing a station wagon. Perhaps most puzzling, when asking a straw poll of female friends, they seem to universally agree that a station wagon like a Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo or Audi A6 Allroad is far “sexier” than any hopped-up muscle car or even sports car I’ve had on test.

I get it. A station wagon says, “I’m practical, but stylish. Humble, but not boring. Tasteful, but not thirsty.” They offer all the practicality of an SUV, while coming across as a more adventurous, perhaps even rebellious solution.

Still, we don’t really buy them.

Perhaps it’s because a station wagon neither has the silhouette of a heroic sports car nor the rugged perception of an SUV. They come across as a mismatched, oddball choice.

For example, a cult-classic like this 2011 Cadillac CTS-V wagon offered for sale on AutoTrader through August Luxury Motors of Kelowna, B.C., but currently residing in Ontario, is a perfect example of the “oddball” appeal of a station wagon.

Under the hood is a 556-hp 6.2-litre supercharged V8 — a downtuned version of what you would have found in the Corvette ZR1 and Camaro ZL1 — although still mounted to the same six-speed manual Tremec transmission. It sits on a MagnaRide suspension with “Magneto Rheological Damping” (pretty trick stuff in 2011), has Brembo brakes, and even has sport bucket seats by Recaro.

None of those things really screams “Cadillac” or “station wagon.” But it was enough to propel this station wagon to 100 km/h in 4.0 seconds and run a quarter mile in the mid-12s. In 2011, that was Nissan GT-R or Ferrari 458 territory. And famously, this American barge of a station wagon had enough raw grunt to humiliate the lowly Ferrari California in a drag race.

In fact, in 2011, it was the world’s fastest station wagon.

On a flying start, the CTS-V Sport Wagon lapped Nürburgring Nordschleife in 8 minutes and 12.1 seconds — roughly the same time as a Honda NSX-R.

And yet, nobody bought one. By the end of its short run in 2013, it was reported that GM only sold about 1,200 CTS-V Sport Wagons, which accounted for just 0.5 per cent of all CTS sales.

Again, I get it. Because when it comes to putting down hard-earned dollars for a car, it’s not just about saying yes to an idea. It’s about saying no to other options. And while a luxury station wagon with supercar-like performance might seem like the best of all worlds, that’s partially the problem. You have to say no to both more practical and less expensive options, as well as more recognizable and purposeful sports cars.

Calculating for inflation, the CTS-V Sport Wagon had an MSRP of about $102,400 in 2025 money. So while it may have been a performance bargain compared to a supercar, that’s still a lot of cheddar to shell out on a vehicle that isn’t really one thing or another.

Still, it’s undeniable that the CTS-V Sport Wagon has an enduring appeal. Beyond its trivia-friendly “flash in the pan” existence, it’s also a “sleeper” — wolf in sheep’s clothing, a street brawler in dad-approved Kirkland-brand khaki shorts.

The seller is asking $109,990 for this wagon. Given how rarely these come up for sale, how well-kept this one is, and how tastefully optioned it is with “Thunder Gray ChromaFlair” paint and Ebony Leather with “Sueded Microfiber” inserts, it seems right on the money.

And sure, you could have a similarly-optioned Corvette for that kind of money. But as we like to say in this column, you’ll definitely be the only one on your block with a supercharged Cadillac station wagon.