When the Cadillac CT6-V died, it took the Blackwing V8 with it. Only available for a short time and handbuilt at GM’s Bowling Green, Kentucky plant, the engine never had a chance to really make its mark. But you still have a chance to experience it in something other than a CT6.
The Drive discovered this week that the 4.2-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine is available through Cadillac’s online parts portal. Priced at $20,583.34 (at the time of publishing), you’ll also have to pay a $3,500 core charge to get one of them.
Sold as part number 12662913, the engine weighs in at 518 lbs (235 kg), but it isn’t quite a crate engine. Speaking to the outlet, a GM spokesperson said that the automaker had built a “handful of engines” for service use before production officially ended.
Read Also: Was The Blackwing Engine In The CT6-V Better Than The One In the CT5-V Blackwing?
“The [engine] is the service available variant. We did not release this in our Performance parts catalog as a crate engine,” the spokesperson said.
That suggests that the engine hasn’t been designed to be easy to install like one of GM’s other engines like, say, the 10.35-liter ZZ632 crate engine, which makes 1,004 hp (1,017 PS/749 kW). The Blackwing V8, on the other hand, makes 550 hp (558 PS/410 kW) and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm) of torque.
It also isn’t as easy as simply clicking “buy now.” To get one of these engines, you’ll have to arrange it with a dealership, which may complicate things. Still, it would be interesting to see this engine in something other than a CT6.
What car would you use it on?
I can’t help but feel that putting this in a classic Cadillac from the ’60s might be interesting. Something with enormous fender flares painted all black surely deserves the name Blackwing. But what do you think? What would you put this engine in if you managed to get your hands on it?
