2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT

“Now what kind of person needs a truck like this,” she said skeptically, eyeing the pristine, pearly white Cadillac Escalade EXT consuming a good portion of my driveway. She works as a professional arborist who had come this particular day to spread a heap of very smelly, dark fertilizer over some tender landscaping in my yard. She pulled one hand from her work-covered overalls pocket and opened the EXT’s back door to peer inside. “Hmmm. Side air bags. Well, that’s OK.” The contrast of this female who depends daily on trucks not afraid to get dirt beneath their nails and this ultra-manicured Cadillac speaks volumes. In fact, it pretty much sums up the general reaction when word got out that Cadillac was contemplating a pickup. You could hear cynical snorts across the land. But, hey, the luxury SUV got plenty of chortles as a concept. Could we once again be underestimating the buying public’s love of luxury and prestige, even in the most basic of work vehicles? Make no mistake: There’s nothing basic about this Cadillac. And therein lies its seduction. The Good News
I daresay you could charge admission to ease the monthly payments on this Escalade EXT. People love this truck. Everywhere it goes, heads turn and eyes narrow. Park it and a crowd gathers. I was in the middle of lunchtime traffic on West End when this fellow with a big gold tooth in the middle of his grin motioned for me to roll down the window. “How do it ride?” he shouted from the van, his co-worker behind the wheel leaning forward for a better look. “Like a Cadillac,” I shouted back, at which point he laughed approvingly and began high-fiveing everyone in the van.

Its radical combination of extreme macho and equally over-the-top luxury captures people’s imagination. I have to confess, it sucks me in a bit, too. Due to its sheer size, it almost qualifies as architecture -- bold, beautiful architecture – with the kind of elegant interior you associate with limousines.

Yet, it can be a real truck if it wants to. Borrowing the Chevy Avalanche concept, the Escalade EXT features the same system whereby the panel separating the cabin from the truck bed folds down to expand the 5-foot cargo bed to 8.1-feet. You lose the back seat in this process, but you have a considerable loader.

Chances are most of the Escalade EXT’s life will be spent as a luxury four-door, five-passenger SUT (that’s “sport-utility truck,” in case you aren’t already confused enough.) It’s well cut out for this lifestyle.

Inside, there’s Zebrano wood trim, yummy Nuance leather, soothing audio and cool sport instrumentation. Very ritzy.

Under the hood is the formidable 6.0-liter Vortec V-8 producing 345 horses and 380 pound-feet of torque. It’s the same engine that gives the Escalade claim to being the most powerful sport utility period. Mated to a 4-speed automatic, all this hustle rolls out like spun silk, with a 0-60 time under 8 seconds. That’s remarkable considering its size.

The Escalade EXT comes with full-time all-wheel-drive as standard equipment. The system doles out 38 percent of its power to the front wheels and 62 to the rear, adjusting appropriately when slippage occurs.

The only characteristics I find more trucklike in this EXT are its steering and ride. It departs from Cadillac’s trademark butter-soft steering and oozing ride to give us a somewhat stiffer, more solid experience on both fronts. But all things are relative: It’s still very much a Cadillac with a little truck thrown in for good measure.

The Bad News
This Escalade EXT is larger than the Escalade, which is already too large to suit me. The EXT is 221.4 inches long with a 130-inch wheelbase, whereas the Escalade is 198.9 and 116, respectively.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think transportation is here to serve us, not vice versa. This Escalade EXT is so big, I found myself crossing off destinations because parking and maneuvering could be more trouble than it was worth.

But it makes a great entrance.

Gas mileage
EPA rated at 12 mpg city/15 highway

Price
Manufacturer’s base, $49,245;
Price as tested, $52,535

Is it worth it?
I have only seen, not driven, the Blackwood, Lincoln’s version of the luxo-truck tied into the Navigator. I do know the Blackwood doesn’t come with all-wheel drive nor is it as powerful under the hood or as radical looking as the EXT. The Blackwood’s base price is $52,500.

In either case, this new class of money market macho offers vehicles few can afford, or would even want to. But for those who have the cash, who love the irony of a sumptuous truck and who want extraordinary comfort in a traffic-stopping vehicle, there’s nothing like this Cadillac EXT. It’s the ultimate in tough luxury.

As for the arborist’s original question – “What kind of person needs a truck like this?” -- my answer is “no one.” When you’re talking $52,000 convertible trucks, “need” is not part of the equation.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville’s daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.