1976 Cadillac Eldorado Mirage pick up

[Buzz61]

Just signed up again, i had a 1979 Cadillac Phaeton Western Saddle Edition #18 which i sold a couple years ago now i have found a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Mirage pick up here in Detroit and bargaining for a good price, the car is in rough shape and is missing the left front fender and doors it has the 500ci engine intact and the front wheel drive suspension is intact.   There was only 234 made and cost $9000 more /or the conversion, i dont know how many are left so i hope i can get it for a good price, i will keep you posted......

[76eldo]

I have MINT doors and fenders for you, but I am near Phila PA/

Brian

[James Gaffney]

I really was wondering how many were made of the Eldorado Mirage by Tradional Motor Works. When I bought mine, the plate on the dash said it was a production prototype. Before I bought it I had only seen the Mirage based on the Coupe.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

All the Factory authorized "Mirage" conversions were done on Coupe deVilles.  The Eldo conversions were "one-off" conversions.
Greg Surfas

[J. Skelly]

I looked at it last year.  It had even more junk piled on it, so I couldn't see the data plate.  It didn't look Mirage quality to me, but I'm no expert.  I thought it was a probably done at a local body shop.

[R Winchell]

I have quite a bit of info re; Mirage trucks built by Traditional, but show no Eldorados built. Records are a bit sketchy but it appears that around 206 trucks on coupe de ville bodys were built, and 56 Castilian wagons were built under Cadillac supervision.
Caribou however built trucks from Eldorados, Lincolns, etc but none of the Caribous were built with Cadillacs approval.
I have copys of original sales brochures from both Traditional and Caribou if anyone is interested for a nominal copying fee.
         Bob Winchell  ...rwinch5418@bellsouth.net...

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

The August 1998 Self Starter has an article written by the (then) Guru of Mirages. Don Joy was one of those devotees that really did his homework, and had two show quality Mirages.  In the article he states the closest actual production numbers was 104 made in 1976.  It was a $7500 dealer cost to which the dealers (and they were the only conversion authorized by Cadillac and sold through the dealers) added their mark-up, resulting in an at least $9000 option to a $9000.00 car.  By comparison (according to the article) the Caribou conversion cost $2-3000, and the company (Caribou) would convert any model (of Cadillac or other car), new or used.  It was not a Cadillac authorized conversion.
By the time I "got up the gumption" to go after one, I called and unfortunately Don had passed away.  I spent quite a bit of time talking and communicating with his wife, Joy, and fortunately she was as well versed in the technology as he had been.  It started a 15 year quest and I ended up with my '79 "Paris".  A copy of the Mirage conversion done to the downsized '79 Coupe deVille.  It's a work in progress, and I really am enjoying bringing it up to snuff.
Greg Surfas

[R Winchell]

I agree, around 104 Mirages were built in 1976 and 102 in 1975 were built. I have had several over the years and now keep a registry of sorts of known Mirages and Castilians that are still alive and well today.
Most have the vin numbers and some known history which may be of interest to a current owner...
The only visual difference from 75 and 76 was the Mirage script that was added to the sides of the front fenders in 76.
However many 75 owners went back to traditional and stuck the 76 script on their 75 trucks.
Gordon Collins wrote some of those articles in the old self starters and is still alive and well living a southern California.
   Anyone who would like to add their vehicle to my registry is encouraged to contact me.
                      Thx Bob Winchell #21880  Marietta Ga

[James Gaffney]

I was looking through my paperwork on my Mirage.  There was a plate on the dash that said,
                 
                   Original 1976 Eldorado Mirage 2 (in Roman numerials) Production Prototype
                                    Built for Brooks Cadillac
                                        6l47S60191743
                              Traditional Coach Works LTD.

In the advertizing I have seen, it looks exactly like the water colored drawing of the Eldorado version.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

James,
Not that yours might not be a very nice car, the only "official" Cadillac authorized conversions were none using Coupe deVilles.
Greg Surfas

[James Gaffney]

In 1976, my old partner Elmer Charping bought a cream colored Mirage and had it delivered to Texas. Also a gentleman named H.A. Binion also bought a triple red Mirage. At the time I thought Man, are these guys Strong or what.  In our community of around 40,000 people at the time, we also had at least two 1976 Eldorado convertibles, a 1976 Talisman, besides a strong number of Fleetwoods, Eldorados and Coupe De Villes. The most outrageous Cadillacs were the ones that came to town on payday weekends. The pimps drove the El Deoras and the Moloneys. Those were different times.

[James Gaffney]

Thank You for the clarification. I always thought of them as an expression of the times, outside of any regard to authority. Just as bad as the fashions of the day. That moment in time, when excess was normal for a subculture. I always think of the men that worked for those shops, such as Gene Winfield. I also think about how the line gets blurred with companies like ASC. The American Sunroof Corporation not only produced the El Deora on their own, whose style can be debated, but also the Biarritz for Cadillac, where the work was done in their shop.

[James Gaffney]

I finally found some corresponding proof about the Eldorado Mirage in the book The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield by David Grant. In the Acknowledgments David Grant talked about working with Gene and Andre De Stefanis in the prototype department on a one-off 76 Cadillac Eldorado pickup that was never finished at Traditional Coach Works in Chatsworth, California.

I also found reference in the section about Andre De Stefanis.

[Rich S]

Here is a link to additional information about mid-seventies Eldorado pick-up conversions:

https://barnfinds.com/strangest-ebay-listing-ever-1977-eldo-mino/

[BJM]

All the Factory authorized "Mirage" conversions were done on Coupe deVilles.  The Eldo conversions were "one-off" conversions.
Greg Surfas

One off by whom?  The original poster has not come back on, that I can see.  Could the Eldorado conversion above be from Caribou?  Like the red one I located in Tennessee? 

Or did Mirage do unauthorized "one offs" on Eldorado chassis? 

Even though Caribous were not authorized by Cadillac Division, apparently they are recognized by CLC and generally though to be quality conversions.  From what I have read.

[35-709]

According to the link supplied in Reply #13, a brochure copy there lists Continental Coachbuilders, Ltd, Inc. , 14895 NE 20th Ave., No. Miami, FL as the builder of at least some Eldorado pickup conversions.  Once again, this MAY BE an example of all Cadillac pickup conversions bring lumped under either the Caribou or Mirage name, by those not knowing any better, eventhough someone else may have built it.  I do not know if Caribou or Mirage ever built a pickup conversion on anything other than a Coupe DeVille donor car, but Eldorado conversions obviously were built --- by Continental Coachbuilders and possibly others.