Fast-track Cadillac

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Regular readers of the esteemed Mr. Neil’s automotive reviews -- and car nuts in general -- will have heard of the Nürburgring Nordschliefe, the daunting 14-mile race circuit in Germany that is by turns (and there are over 100 of them) exhilarating and scary. Although there is no single repository of official lap times, it’s generally recognized that anyone who completes the course in under eight minutes is going some.

While this fleet clique normally involves dedicated racing machines and the usual Euro supercar suspects (plus the new Nissan GT-R), there’s one surprising name that has infiltrated the ranks: Cadillac. Yes, Friday May 9, 2008 was a star-spangled banner of a day for the American marque. Its CTS-V sedan stopped the Nürburgring clock at 7:59.32. Which could well be the fastest-ever publicly documented time for a production sedan. And that’s with no go-faster bits outside of those planned for the street model, which should go on sale in the fall.

The 2009 Cadillac CTS-V has a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine that is said to produce around 550 horsepower. The plan is to make this car the fastest production sedan in the world -- not such a far-fetched notion. Video footage of this blistering run will soon be uploaded to http://cadillac.gmblogs.com.

-- Colin Ryan