Cadillac CT Coupe news - Caddy's curveball - 2008

It's always nice to be surprised. We usually have a pretty good tab on everything that's going to be unveiled in Detroit, but the Cadillac CT Coupe Concept completely blindsided us. In a good way. 

The CT Coupe is a two-door interpretation of Cadillac's new CTS saloon - the hot 'V' version of which is also being shown for the first time in Detroit - and has caused one of the biggest ripples at the show.

Once the Caddy design team had finished the saloon, it drew up the coupe concept for fun. "We did not create it as the result of sifting through reams of market data," said GM designer Ed Welburn. "The final design's proportions were judged by the eyes of the design team, not computer-generated maths data."

Just the sort of concept we like, in other words - and it's a handsome beast. The coupe sits on the same wheelbase as the saloon, but its roofline is some 10cm lower, with a more steeply raked windscreen and a fastback rear end.

Even with those skinny mirrors and hidden door handles, it doesn't look too far from production. The drivetrain is more than feasible, too - the same 3.6-litre V6 as the CTS saloon, with room for GM's soon-to-arrive 2.9-litre turbodiesel if you fancy something a little more sensible. No word on whether the CT coupe could take the 6.2-litre V8 from the CTS-V, which we're taking as an unqualified yes.

In fact, the only bit we'd insist on removing before production is that awful yellow interior. We're all for letting designers roam free, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.