The Last American Performance Wagon Is A Practical Bargain In 2025

Wagons exist in a very niche segment of the automotive market in the US. While the rest of the world offers a broader range to choose from, America only gets a handful – but, fortunately, those we do get are pretty cool, with some of the biggest hitters holding up the performance wagon banner in 2025. However, among the likes of the Audi RS6 Avant and the new BMW M5 Touring, one thing is missing: an American-made performance station wagon – which sucks, because we used to have an amazing home-grown contender.

15 years ago, Cadillac’s V-Series had just taken off, and one of its greats at the time was the CTS-V: a sports sedan equipped with a Corvette engine and over 550 horsepower on tap. You could have it in three different configurations – a sedan, a coupe, and, happily, a wagon. This is the story of one of Cadillac’s rarest performance cars, the CTS-V Sports Wagon, the last American-bred go-faster wagon which you can still get today as a veritable performance bargain.

2014 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon

Base MSRP

$63,600

Engine

6.2L Supercharged V8 Gas

Transmission

6-speed manual / 6-speed automatic

Horsepower

556 hp

Torque

551 lb-ft

0-60 MPH

4 Seconds

Drivetrain

RWD

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Cadillac’s Performance Wagon In 2025

The used car market in 2025 is a great place to find a bargain, but you’ll have to do some careful searching if you’re after a CTS-V wagon. They’re quite rare, but if you’re lucky, you can find an example such as the 2012 wagon listed on AutoTempest for $54,950. This beauty has done just over 80,000 miles in its lifetime, wears Black Diamond Tri-Coat, and comes with all the bells and whistles the top-of-the-range wagon offered just a year after launch.

Kelley Blue Book suggests slightly older models of the CTS-V wagon retail for between $20k and $40k, depending on mileage and condition (2011 and 2012 examples exist in this price range). You can also score one with a manual transmission, but they are few and far between and may have a higher asking price. Their exclusivity and rarity are such that, as recently as 2024, they were being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Today, you’ll find this Sports Wagon in the garage of famous automotive personalities like John Hennessey, and in racing games like Forza Horizon 5. Here’s why.

Cadillac CTS-V Sports Wagon: 2010-2014

The CTS-V Sports Wagon was the third model in the CTS-V range, with both a coupe and a sedan alongside it. All models used the same mechanical bits, though, with the supercharged V8 engine being shared with the C5-generation Chevrolet Corvette Z06 – it also borrowed the transmission from that car and provided 556 horsepower and almost as much torque. You could launch this family hauler to 60 mph in just about four seconds, with performance limited only by Cadillac’s choice to drive only the rear wheels, in much the same way the CT5-V Blackwing does today. The V-Series wagon was set apart with some special high-performance features:

Drivers could tweak the suspension settings depending on whether they wanted to drive with sanity or in anger, with a “controlled, supple, quiet” ride for the former, and a firm, responsive setup for the latter. The wagon drove considerably better around a track than the sedan did – at least according to reviews of the time – and many gearheads of the time fawned over how well it gripped in the corners, hurtling out with confidence. Especially revered were the wagons with the stick shift, and laying down the power from the V8 engine was such a hallowed experience among journalists at the time, that you’d be hard-pressed to find a drive review with any sort of negativity – or preference for the automatic transmission.

Related

How The Cadillac CTS-V Became A Performance Icon

It was Cadillac’s most powerful car ever.

Cadillac is clearly gifted at getting the unassuming sports car thing right, because even in 2025, they sell one of our favorite sports sedans on the market – and it stands to reason it would be the latest iteration of the CTS-V’s successor: the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, which also holds the title of the last manual, V8-powered, rear-wheel drive sedan left in the States.

Performance Meets Practicality

Not content just offering supreme performance, Cadillac added a host of features to ensure the brand upheld the premium vehicle aspirations of the time. To that end, the CTS-V wagon also came with comforts and conveniences like heated leather seats, a 40-gigabyte hard drive for the in-dash navigation system, a Bose surround sound system, and keyless entry. Available optional extras included:

• High-performance ventilated front seats
• Panoramic sunroof
• Wood interior trim
• Power-opening liftgate
• Suede-wrapped steering wheel and shifter

Luxury aside, the CTS-V is a practical car, with up to 58 cubic feet of cargo space and seating for five in relative comfort. The wagon boasts over 36 inches of rear legroom, and 42.4 inches for those up front – these measurements beat the Mercedes-AMG E63 Wagon of the same era, and the same applies for front headroom.

What Happened to the Last American-made Performance Wagon?

Despite being highly regarded among enthusiasts, America’s love affair with pickup trucks and SUVs resulted in poor sales of this sports wagon, and the brand pulled the plug after the 2014 model year. After four years on the market, only around 2,000 units were sold (although some sources suggest a much lower number) – and only a quarter of those had the manual transmission. Numbers like this make the CTS-V Sports Wagon one of Cadillac’s rarer models, and even more of a reason why we’d want one parked in our garage.

What Makes It A Performance Bargain?

Spending between $30- and $55k on a car that’s a decade old may seem like a waste, but there’s an argument to be made for how it stacks up against modern rivals that cost much more than double the price.

Both of the modern performance wagons we compare above come with newer technology and much more power, but when you calculate how much power you’re getting for every dollar spent, the CTS-V offers you so much more. Even using the higher used-car prices for the CTS-V (over $50k), you get more muscle for your money. You could buy two CTS-V Wagons for the price of one M5 Touring (before options) and still have change left over.

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The Audi RS6 Avant is one of the most commanding wagons on the road, though there are some much cheaper options that also provide a thrill.

But let’s take it one step further and compare the 2014 CTS-V with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz AMG E63 Wagon – a core rival at the time. The German wagon cost over $100k new in 2014, but you can pick up a used version for around $40 – $60k, so a similar price band to the CTS-V. The AMG E63 Wagon’s 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 gas engine pumped out 577 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, but you only got all-wheel drive and a seven-speed automatic transmission; no rear-wheel drive thrills or DIY-shifting potential there. In terms of horsepower per dollar, you get more bang for your buck with the CTS-V Wagon. And, importantly, you get to own the last American-made performance wagon – a car that is already sought after for its rarity.

Sources: Cadillac, Audi, BMW, AutoTempest, Kelley Blue Book