The First Cadillac Celestiq Owner Is Already Enjoying Their Bespoke $340,000 EV And Parking It Like A Normal Car

I’ve now lived in Los Angeles for more than five years, and I’ve become pretty jaded in terms of carspotting. Don’t get me wrong, I still get excited every time I see a Bugatti or a Ferrari 250 GT SWB or whatever other ultra-rare car you could think of, but it’s very rare for me to see something that I’ve never seen before. I mean, I’ve even spotted the Lancia Stratos Zero concept driving down the road, and multiple times at that. But over the weekend while on routine drive through Beverly Hills, my friend and I stumbled upon something spectacular that had me practically jumping for joy: the first customer-delivered Cadillac Celestiq.

Celestiq VIN 001 was handed over to its lucky owner on June 24, and I hadn’t realized that it was delivered by Cadillac of Beverly Hills — not even knowing the car was in my city made spotting it even better. And it wasn’t in some special valet spot, cordoned off by cones or ropes. It was parked on the street, in a normal spot with a parking meter, while its owners were out to dinner. Sure, I see even more expensive cars parked on the street all the time, but still, this was quite cool.

The sun was just beginning to set as my friend and I parked nearby to check out the Celestiq, and the lighting lended itself well to the spec of this example. Cadillac confirmed to me that the paint color is called Dolce Metallic, a wonderful metallic brown with some warmth to it. Though I couldn’t get a good shot of the interior, it’s also extremely brown, with a two-tone combination of burnt sienna–like Cinnamon and more traditionally tan Camellia leather, and Rosewood trim. 

I couldn’t tell what sort of customization options this Celestiq’s owner chose, but surely there are some cool details. Every Celestiq is totally bespoke and made-to-order, with customers traveling to the Cadillac House in Michigan to spec their cars with their own personal concierges. In terms of paint and upholstery you can do basically whatever you want, and the same goes for the various trim pieces and components that can be etched and engraved. The interior has 150 individually hand-wrapped parts that can all be customized, and a bunch of interior pieces are 3D-printed, so there’s room for customization there, too. Cadillac says there are 350,000 combinations just from the standard selection of options. The Celestiq’s base price may be $340,000, but I doubt many will end up that cheap.

It’s one thing to see a Celestiq at an auto show, or driving down the road with no other cars around, but seeing it parked on the street with normal traffic surrounding it really emphasizes just how bananas the Celestiq’s design is. First of all, it’s huge. At 217.2 inches long it sits between the Escalade and Escalade ESV in length, and it’s a few inches longer than the Rolls-Royce Spectre EV. The Celestiq is also quite a bit shorter in height than the Spectre, coming in about as tall as a Porsche Panamera. With a super short front overhang and a seriously long rear overhang the proportions are dramatic as hell, and the wagon-y shape is unlike anything else on the road.

It looks even more spectacular in motion, and especially at night, as I was lucky enough to witness the Celestiq driving away after sitting at a stoplight. The way the taillights play red light onto the ground is fantastic, and I love the lit-up grille. It is just freakin’ awesome. It’s now been days since I saw the Celestiq, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Hopefully I’ll keep seeing this Celestiq regularly, and hopefully many more will be delivered to customers in Los Angeles. But not that many — Cadillac will only be making about 25 of them this year, and it’ll only have the capacity to build around one or two per day after that. Back in 2022, Cadillac said that it already was sold out for nearly two years of production.