A Cadillac CTS-V ‘Le Monstre’ Already Exists

Back in midsummer 2024, General Motors unveiled the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Le Monstre Edition, a limited-edition variant honoring the 101^st anniversary of the original Le Mans race with a total production run of 101 sedans.

However, the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing isn’t the first GM vehicle to bear the sobriquet of the 1950 Cadillac Le Mans race car, with a Le Monstre already created back in 2011 by The D3 Group.

Described by GM Authority at the time as “laughing in the face of sanity,” the D3 Le Monstre transformed a Cadillac CTS-V Coupe into a rubber-peeling, breathtaking juggernaut cranking out 1,001 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque. A 7.0-liter LS7 V8 with a 3.6L supercharger system lies at the heart of the metamorphosis, but that’s just scratching the surface of the modifications.

The D3 Le Monstre rode on massive Toyo high-performance summer tires wrapped around 20-inch Rennen wheels for cruising, or Proxes R888 competition tires for racing. The exterior also sported a ventilated hood made by The D3 Group itself, a chin splitter fabricated from carbon fiber, a wide-body kit and a black Wraptivo body wrap.

Under the hyper-aggressive exterior, D3 also equipped its CTS-V with modifications to both the vehicle’s chassis and its suspension. KW Suspensions Variant 3 Coilovers help to keep the vehicle planted through hard-charging maneuvers, as did the additional of a flat-bottomed carbon fiber undertray to the heavily modified CT5-V, with strategically placed ducting.

The D3 Group built only one Le Monstre, though it was intended for actual racing and not just show. The 2025 Le Monstre Edition will be over a hundred times more numerous, as noted above, and will feature numerous aesthetic upgrades inside and out.

On the exterior, the 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Le Monstre’s styling cues are headlined by its exclusive Magnus Metal Frost paint color, Stormhawk Blue carbon fiber package and Royal Blue brake calipers. Inside, laser-etched door sills, a 3D printed manual transmission shifter, and the standard CT5-V 33-inch LED control and infotainment display are some of the features buyers can expect.

The 2025 Cadillac Le Monstre doesn’t quite match the output of the D3 Group’s creation. Motivation is provided by the supercharged 6.2L V8 LT4 gasoline engine, delivering 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque.

As a reminder, all current CT5 variants are underpinned by the GM Alpha 2 platform. All variations of the sedan are produced at the GM Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan.