Cadillac ATS

For a long stretch, a Cadillac was something you rented, not something you wanted. That has quietly changed. The brand's Art and Science design language, all sharp creases and vertical lighting, turned Cadillac into one of the most distinctive-looking marques on the road.

Every few years a car company rolls something onto an auto show stage that makes the crowd go quiet for a second before the applause starts. The proportions are perfect. The surfaces are sculpture. The details are unlike anything currently on the road. Then two years later the production version arrives and something has happened to it. The roofline is higher. The wheel arches are smaller. The front end has been softened. The car that made people stop talking is now a car people drive past without looking at. This happens so consistently it might as well be a law of automotive physics...

Walk through any parking lot in America and run a quick count. Crossovers, trucks, more crossovers, a few SUVs, one sedan that belongs to someone's dad. The cars that consistently rate highest on design, the ones that win awards and get photographed at auto shows, are largely absent. Meanwhile, the vehicles moving off dealer lots..