Cadillac’s quest to expand outside North America and a few eastern markets didn’t die with the Allante. Once again it tried to conceive a car that would attract the professional classes of the USA’s eastern and western seaboards, which are son keen on ‘imports’ as well translate overseas. Cadillac also went to the trouble of producing a right hand drive conversion, potentially opening up the key UK, Japanese and South African markets. The STS was considerably shorter around 8 in (20 cm) then the US market car from which it was derived. Reducing the size of the Cadillac was necessary for the crowded driving conditions of Europe. The STS’s styling was also Euro slick than any American car before it. A desire to match Lexus extended inside for the most un American interior design, again aimed at those tempted by the Lexus. In truth the Cadillac looked good enough inside and out to be the most serious US road car attempt on the world market yet. Its North Star V8 was a world class powerplant. Alone in this class as a front wheel drive vehicle, the STS must have been one of the most powerful front wheel drive ever sold.
There was evidence that the STS lacked the honing required for high speed European motoring body control, stability at motorway speeds and quality of plastics, but its standard specification was so extensive that the STS was seen as a bargain, even at the price. General Motor’ need to see the Cadillac brand globalized was made even clearer by the creation of a satellite styling studio in Britain’s automotive heart land, the West Midlands.
