The ad for today’s CTS-V claims you won’t find a more gently driven example anywhere. It also says the car’s dyno sheet is available for the asking. Let’s see if this hot Caddy’s price is as incongruous as its description.

Having something that few others have can be an exhilarating bit of oneupmanship. On the other hand, having something that few others want—like say ebola or a summons to appear before a congressional oversight committee—can elicit a different sort of emotion.

The seller of yesterday’s claimed it to be one of only five cars so imported into the U.S.. At $23,900, the seller was obviously playing off that exclusivity, but, as was pointed out in the comments, he failed to account for the exclusivity being driven by an overarching lack of desirability.

Sure, you all concluded, it’s a car that was never sold here. It also is a car with quite a few more modern and price competitive alternatives, one from its own maker in fact. In the end, that rationale resulted in the little Audi that couldn’t taking home a walloping 94 percent Crack Pipe loss.

In the 1960s, a wave of surf music arose out of the Southern California sonic scene. The iconic sound wasn’t limited to praising the perfect wave or bikini-clad damsel, it also embraced the region’s emerging hot rod culture, giving us songs like the Beach Boys’ Little Deuce Coupe and the Rip Chords’ Hey Little Cobra. The most humorous take on the surf and sports car sound was by the Los Angeles-based duo Jan and Dean, and one their most famous songs was a take on an unexpected hot rod enthusiast, one titled The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.

The titular Crown City septuagenarian occupied her time with the seemingly incongruous activities of gardening and trolling Colorado Boulevard in what Jan and Dean sang was a ‘brand new, shiny red, super stock Dodge.’

I raise this bit of music history because today’s is pretty big hammer in a Cadillac velvet glove and its present owner is noted in the ad as being 70-years old.

The ad further informs us that the present owner is a non-smoker (which might explain how they got to 70) and that they have always managed to garage the car when it was not in use. Most notably, it claims that ‘No CTS-V has been driven more gently than this one.’

Under that older owner’s gentle stewardship, this CTS-V has also been imbued with a set of Kooks long-tube stainless steel headers, a matching big dump Corsa exhaust, a lightened flywheel and twin-disc clutch, and a set of Corvette rocker covers on either side of its polished MP112 Magnuson supercharger. Yes, this 5.7-litre LS6 is blown. There’s nothing gentle about that.

Behind the romper-stomper V8 and dual plate clutch lies the CTS-V’s standard T56 six-speed manual. A limited-slip pumpkin, sourced from Getrag, sorts out the power at the back wheels. The whole thing has been dyno tuned and doesn’t seem to suffer any mechanical maladies, at least not per the ad.

The 81,000 mile Caddy looks pretty good too. The Stealth Grey paint seems to have stood the test of time, as has the leather upholstered interior. It should be noted that GM really started paying attention to interiors with this version of the CTS, a factor that still shows inside.

Yes, it looks like a GM-era Saab in the cabin, but that’s a hell of a lot better than the baroque crap that came before. Aluminum pedals brighten up things for your feet while a nav screen in the center stack will keep you from feeling like you’re driving something ancient.

Of course, this being a Cadillac, it comes with power everything, a moonroof and a decent sound system. The latter will likely suffice should the melodious sonancy of the pressure-fed LS6 under the hood not be your auditory cup of tea.

The title is clear and the car comes with both its factory alloys and what the ad says are a set of ‘staggered Linea Corse custom wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.’ Man that’s a lot.

It’s also not all something you’d expect to find described as the ‘most gently driven example of a CTS-V you’d ever find.’ That’s the kind of incongruity I like, just the way I like the lyrics to The Little Old Lady from Pasadena.

The question of the moment however, is whether or not you all will like this Caddy’s $19,500 asking. That’s a good drop from when the car was new, but there are plenty of these on the market and that price is far from the cheapest for them. Based on the level of kit and the offered history, could this actually be the better deal?

You decide!

Detroit, MI , or go if the ad disappears.

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