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Here’s How The Cadillac Goddess Was Reimagined For The Celestiq: Video

The Cadillac Goddess is making a “triumphant return” as a design motif and badge on the new Cadillac Celestiq EV, as GM Authority previously reported, marking the first time in nearly six and a half decades since a Cadillac has featured the figure.

Now, GM has revealed the details behind the rebirth of the Cadillac Goddess as a blend of historic, classic design and a symbol of future achievements, showcasing the new emblem in the video below.

The new rendering of the Cadillac Goddess.

Sculptor Richard Wiquist is the artist responsible for developing a fresh iteration of the Cadillac Goddess, Cadillac says. The Cadillac Goddess went through several different forms during her earlier appearance on the luxury brand’s vehicles.

Her final previous incarnations in the 1950s abstracted the figure almost completely, replacing a human body with a narrow set of industrial wings resembling a glider or specialized aircraft, and reducing her face to a sketchy, only quasi-human figurehead.

Wiquist’s Cadillac Goddess is based on earlier versions of the hood ornament, in particular the type that featured on the classic 1933 Cadillac V-16. The sculptor singled out that variant as the progenitor of his own upward-soaring sculpture, remarking on how “the 1933 figure had a great sense of motion conveyed through drapery that appeared to flow from the figure.”

Artist Richard Wiquist sculpting the Cadillac Goddess.

The new Cadillac Goddess features the same female human physique, flowing garments, and ascending pose. Her serenely smiling, confident face is meant to evoke the long tradition of classic European sculpture that ultimately extends back to ancient Rome and the Hellenistic period of Greek aesthetics.

Wiquist created a much larger version of the Cadillac Goddess in clay to get every detail correct as GM and he wanted. The process took several months. GM notes that “there wasn’t a mandate on how the new Goddess would be incorporated” in the Cadillac Celestiq. Other artists took Wiquist’s design and created various emblems included on the EV.

Wiquist working on the face of the Cadillac Goddess.

The Cadillac Goddess doesn’t isn’t a hood ornament on the 2024 Cadillac Celestiq, but appears in several places throughout the vehicle’s design. These include a 3D molded glass Goddess in the front fender trim, a central backlit Goddess embedded in glass in the middle of the multi-function controller’s knurled aluminum knob, and an illuminated bas relief Goddess above the charging port.

Describing the symbolic intent behind the figure, Wiquist observes that “heritage is an inextricable element of everything Cadillac does, while our future is about perfecting the art of individuality,” adding “that’s exactly what the Goddess represents with CELESTIQ.”

A display showing the Cadillac Goddess.

The 2024 Cadillac Celestiq, host to the returning Cadillac Goddess, is due out in spring 2024. The top-end luxury EV rides on GM’s BEV3 platform while using a 111 kWh GM Ultium battery pack and two GM Ultium Drive motors for motivation. The setup cranks out a combined 600 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque, providing a zero to 60 mph time of 3.8 seconds.

Pricing for the 2024 Cadillac Celestiq is expected to start at an approximate MSRP of $340,000, though each of the flagship luxury sedans will be highly customized, leading to a higher final price.

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Comments

  1. “Reimagined” is code for “Riding on the coat-tails of previous creative innovation.”

    Reply
    1. What’s the critique here? It’s not like the Celestiq is a retro-styled car. Calling back on heritage is something EVERY car brand does especially Rolls and Bentley.

      Reply
    2. Ok, this make sense now. Obviously Cadillac revisited their heritage when they designed the back half of this car.

      They must have thought that a modern version of the bustle-back used on the 1980-1985 Seville was a good idea.

      Reply
      1. The Seville back was nice and it was a huge sales success.

        Reply
        1. Yup my dad had one with a small transverse mounted v-8.

          Reply
    3. If this is Cadillac’s reimagined goddess, then long live RR and Bentley. They don’t need to design something so hideous to exude true luxury!

      Reply
  2. At least Cadillac knows its heritage. Dear Lincoln, please take note and respond. GM know Cadillac is King and Queen of the empire.

    Reply
  3. It doesn’t matter what car they build or whose brand it’s under it’s going to have the same junk parts put on it and be recalled for a myriad of things including rotating engine problems rust seat belts the same old playbook over and over and over for 10 times more than the damn things are worth

    Reply
    1. Ah yes the myriad of engine problems plaguing GM EV’s….wait

      Reply
      1. You mean you didn’t know they dropped an LT-1 in the Celestiq? 🙂

        Reply
  4. It’s a beautiful sulpture, but oh my God! You have got to be kidding me. Where is the hood ornament? For the price they are asking over $300,000, you should get a hood ornament. Of course it needs to be “reimagined” with a very low drag coefficient.

    Reply
  5. Wait?? I thought Alexandra Purcell was the Cadillac Goddess?

    Reply
  6. Strange and different looking. The super wealthy don’t want to blend in with you. They want you to notice them. That’s why this car does not appeal to the masses. That’s why the the people who can afford it will buy it.

    Reply
  7. First thing I thought of when I saw the Celestiq in profile is the Jensen Interceptor.

    Reply
  8. @C-6 crystal red metallic: Oh sweetheart, GM decided to go electric during the LAST administration. Unless you want the next president to force automakers to stop making EVs? Sounds anti-business and anti-capitalist.

    Reply
  9. The design of the vehicle could be worse. I think it’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The line needs some improvement like a formal notchback FleetwoodIQ and 2-door EldoradoIQ to pull it all together. (Remember that the V-16 had a full lineup) Cadillac isn’t afraid to take chances BTW. Yes, there have been some duds but they learn from the mistakes. For example, the Cimarron was a disaster, but it paved the way for Catera (while better) which paved the way for CTS which gave Cadillac some credibility.

    Reply

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