A few years ago, Ford was about to introduce a very bizarre vehicle, a huge sport utility that would be called the Lincoln Navigator. Well, some people laughed at this product and one particular engineer from Cadillac I had interviewed (and I did not take his name down!) told me that GM would let Ford break its neck with that truck because the market was already well cornered.
Guess what! The Navigator was a huge success and Cadillac scrambled to build its own version called the Escalade. To tell you frankly, I was not very much impressed at the time. The first Escalade was nothing else (to my eyes) than a simply rebadged GMC Denali. But the Escalade that Cadillac will market next January as a 2002 model did impress me a lot.
I had the opportunity to see the truck first-hand last August in California (and drive it too but there is an embargo on driving impressions until November 1) and I was very much amazed to notice that this Escalade has nothing to share with a Denali except the shell itself. First of all, let's begin with the front end. Its design is the first one based on the Evoq concept car. Moreover, it's the first Caddy with the new badge! Then look at the rest of the trims. They are unique to the Escalade now including the 17-inch wheels. The rear taillamps are bigger and square and made of a crystal like plastic as solid as aircraft windshields. At the roof the central mounted stoplight is almost full length. The liftgate is made of aluminum for ease of operation. The rear bumper includes ultrasonic parking sensors. For those who will want a more robust effect, Cadillac will soon market accessories as grille and bush bars(!) and skid plates (would you believe?).