This black beauty sits in the parking lot behind the building my office is in here in Cleveland. For the life of me I can't understand why these didn't sell better than they did years ago. I always thought them to be great looking and driving vehicles.
Based on GM's mid size rear wheel drive "Sigma" platform, which also underpins the CTS, the original SRX was introduced in 2004 and won spots on Car and Driver's Five Best Trucks list in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year Award award for 2004. No small feat for any "truck" maker let alone Cadillac.
Despite the accolades, Cadillac never sold more than 23,000 of these a year in any of its five year production run. I'll be the first to admit that I have a challenge with luxury trucks and SUV's like the QX56 but cross overs - which this most certainly is - I have no problem with since they are passenger vehicles first and foremost. A car, more or less, beefed up with some trucky accoutrements? That I like; trucks gussied up to be luxury cars I most certainly do not.
This particular example even has a vaunted Northstar V-8 making 320 horsepower. I spent some time in one of these V-8 smoothies in Dallas and, granted, it was the lighter RWD only model, it could really move. Quite fun. The base V-6 with 255 horsepower had moxie as well. Add the all wheel drive equipment which is all but a requirement up here snowy, frigid, Northeast Ohio and performance gets bogged down somewhat.
Much like trying to pick hit records, you can not factor in your own personal taste when it comes to what is or isn't going to work with anything in life let alone automobiles. While I found the original SRX very appealing and I find it's 2010 vintage replacement to be nothing more than a fancified Chevrolet Equinox, which it is, I, once again, am fairly alone in that regard. Sales of the new SRX have all but been consistently double of these SRX. Go figure.
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