We drove a $73,000 Cadillac XTS V-Sport and completely fell for its retro charm and secret power (GM)

Matthew DeBord/BI

• The Cadillac XTS V-Sport is a somewhat retro sedan that still has performance cred.
• It is big, comfy, and has a large trunk — but it also has a powerful V6, twin-turbo engine.
• The Cadillac Cue infotainment system and the Bose audio setup make for blissful highway cruising.

The Business Insider Transportation team is fortunate in that we get to road test some extremely exciting cars.

But humans are diverse in their desires, and spine-tingling performance isn't always what we're looking for. Sometimes, we're looking for a ride that's just easy in the old backbone.

My backbone is no longer exactly young, and over the past few years, whenever an old-school, all-American freeway-cruising machine has landed in my driveway, I've quietly rejoiced. 

This happened again recently when Cadillac loaned me a nice, big XTS V-Sport sedan. 

It was so, so soothing. Here's why:

You can tell you're in for something special when your 2018 Cadillac XTS Platinum V-Sport sedan with all-wheel-drive arrives on a Stone Gray Metallic pain job and ...

... with a Maple Sugar interior, with Jet Black accents. Maple sugar!

The Caddy came well-equipped. This trim level has a base price of $71,695, with just about everything already included. Out tester stickered at just over $73,000 thanks largely to a compact spare tire that added $350.

Without all the V-Sport goodies, the XTS comes in at about $46,000.