Cadillac CTS-V Factory Race Car 2008

After years of drift and an alarming drop in sales through the Nineties, Cadillac division and the GM board of directors hatched a plan to resurrect the brand and rescue the oldest automobile manufacturer in America. After a number of false starts, in 2003 the company found new direction in the CTS sports sedan, whose chiseled features were the product of Cadillac’s new “Art and Design” styling approach.
That was followed by the high-performance CTS-V, a 400 HP roadburner whose astonishing performance had been honed at the famed Nurburgring. The CTS-V showed that Cadillac had re-established itself as a luxury performance leader, a point it pressed home in 2004 by entering a two-car factory team in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Series. The investment paid off handsomely over the next four years, with Cadillac taking the 2005 and 2007 Manufacturer’s Championships and lead driver Andy Pilgrim winning the 2005 GT Driver’s Championship by virtue of his unmatched consistency.
From the team’s overwhelmingly victorious 2004 debut at Sebring to Pilgrim’s podium finish in the final race at Road Atlanta in 2008, Cadillac was always in contention thanks in large part to this very machine, which at the hands of driver Andy Pilgrim was the class of the field in the most competitive racing series in North America. Built by Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication of New Hudson, Michigan, the Number 8 Andy Pilgrim Cadillac CTS-V factory race car began life as a body-in-white, but the finished product is an engineering marvel.

The shell is sectioned over the chassis rails and the floor pan and front wheel well openings raised to lower the car and thereby improve its aerodynamics. The firewall was moved rearward and the engine dropped to improve front-rear weight bias and lower the center of gravity, and rear wheelwell tubs installed to accommodate the huge Toyo P335/30R18 rear tires (P335/30R18s are used up front, with factory-look 18-inch O.Z. racing wheels all around). Pratt & Miller installed a full chrome moly roll cage and modified the floor pan to accept the Tremec T56 6-speed manual transmission, which is straight from the Cadillac parts bin but is mounted on its side for better packaging.

The dash is carbon fiber, which also plays a significant role in the car’s racy exterior, which uses the material for every body panel except the roof, which is the required stock steel unit. Cadillac also took advantage of Pratt & Miller’s vast experience with Corvette Racing’s engine program, working a number of modifications to the stock LS6 engine. The stroke is shortened by 9.0 millimeters and the bore increased by 6.3mm, approximating the stock displacement while allowing an increase in maximum engine speed from 6,500 RPM to over 7,900, although the SCCA limited it to 7,000 after its 2004 debut at Sebring. The result is an increase in power to well over 500 horses.

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