Rare right-hand-drive Cadillac up for sale

An ultra-rare, factory-built right-hand-drive Cadillac wagon imported to Australia nearly a decade after it was built will be auctioned in Melbourne this weekend.

One of only a handful in Australia, the 2012 Cadillac CTS wagon was built in the Lansing, Michigan, factory in right-hand drive instead of the US market’s left-hand drive – and is expected to fetch between $30,000 and $40,000 at auction.

While yet to be confirmed, it may have been sold new in the UK in 2012 – before it was imported to Australia in 2021 – when Cadillac was on sale there as the brand looked to expand beyond North America.

That ambition included a scuppered return of the General Motors-owned luxury brand to Australia in 2013 after an 11th-hour end to a previously-planned Australian launch in January 2009.

MORE: Cadillac, a historic timeline of false starts in Australia

Cadillac exited the UK and Europe in 2017 when GM pulled both its luxury brand, as well as Chevrolet from sale – though it retained a presence selling limited numbers of Camaro and Corvette sports cars.

The Cadillac CTS – produced across three generations between 2002 and 2020 – was a rival to the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class and Audi A6 luxury sedans.

It was offered in two-door coupe and four-door sedan body styles, with the ‘Sport Wagon’ produced only between 2010 and 2014 for the second generation.

This ‘Crystal Claret’ red CTS Sport Wagon with 32,218km on the odometer was one of those vehicles, built in January 2012 and imported into Australia as a used vehicle almost a decade later in 2021.

Among its features are many parts closely related to the Holden Commodore VE Series II in Australian new-car showrooms in 2012.

This includes the 201kW 3.0-litre V6 ‘LFW’ petrol engine – a close relation to the engine offered in the Holden Captiva SUV and the ‘LF1’ 3.0-litre V6 Commodore – and six-speed automatic transmission.

The CTS for sale is also rear-wheel drive, like the Commodore, but is underpinned by a platform known as ‘Sigma II’, with rear- or all-wheel drive.

It appears to be the entry-level variant with 18-inch alloy wheels and colour-coded door handles.

Despite this, the CTS has cream-coloured leather-trimmed upholstery with electrically-adjustable heated front seats and woodgrain trim on the dashboard, doors and steering wheel.

There’s also satellite navigation, a Bose stereo, dual-zone climate control and privacy glass, plus a power tailgate opening to a 720L boot with the rear seats up, expanding to 1520L with the seats folded.

Sold unregistered, the buyer can also bid on ‘CTS999’ vehicle registration plates for Victoria.

GM announced the Cadillac brand would return to the UK and Europe in 2023.

After numerous false starts in Australia, GM confirmed Cadillac would finally come back to Australian showrooms – having last been available in 1969 – with an all-electric line-up led by the Cadillac Lyriq SUV in late 2024.

More information on the CTS and how to bid is available at Burns & Co Auctions.