Some of the standard features on the Catera included a cloth interior, front bucket seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, AM/FM stereo radio with cassette player and eight-speaker sound system, airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, keyless entry, security system, alloy wheels, compact spare tire, and full instrumentation.

The Catera received a facelift in 2000 with revised nose, tail, wheels, interior trim, mirrors, optional HID headlamps, stiffer suspension settings, and side airbags.

[2] The model's engine was a 200 hp (149 kW) L81 54° DOHC V6 manufactured in England at GM's Ellesmere Port facility, using an FR layout.

He was one of six mythical, beakless, footless martins or "Merlettes" in the Cadillac Crest before we gave him big feet, a giant beak, and turned him around.

He's quite a departure from his five brothers who have been part of the Cadillac Crest since the days of the crusades when the crest was the proud symbol of Le Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac's Family.In 1997, John Tinker, a producer of television medical drama Chicago Hope, was inspired by an inadvertent pun in a Catera commercial, saying "Who is Lisa Catera?