Cadillac was born in 1902, but it took 100 years before it built a luxury pickup as a conventional offering. Yet, decades before the Cadillac Escalade EXT hit the scene, the Standard of the World offered a stealth utility option to buyers who didn’t mind upsetting the status quo at the local country club. That option took the form of the Cadillac Mirage—a bespoke pickup based on the DeVille Coupe. Production ran between 1975 and 1976, with a limited number of vehicles built. This gorgeous rare 1976 Cadillac Mirage recently appeared for sale on eBay.
The fit and finish of the Mirage reveals that it’s more than an aftermarket conversion.
Evel Knievel Bought The First Mirage
Traditional Coach Works Ltd. (TCW), based on Chatsworth, Calif., gave Cadillac customers the option to convert brand-new DeVilles into open-bed haulers that took full advantage of the car’s ultra-long wheelbase. Mirages were a novelty that attracted their fair share of free-thinking owners. Evel Knievel purchase the first 1975 Cadillac Mirage, putting it to work as a film prop and his own personal driver. You needed deep pockets, as the conversion cost about $9,000—effectively doubling the purchase price of the DeVille.
The Mirage’s tailgate is fully functional.
Traditional Coach Works sold a full range of customized Cadillacs ordered direct from the dealership.
It’s easy to distinguish a Mirage from your basic Cadillac funeral flower car or the Caribou, another DeVille-based utility. Look for the full rear three-quarter window, along with the distinguished padded vinyl top—imitated by the Cadillac Paris pickup that appeared later in the decade. Far more than a simple hack-job, the Mirage was created by hot rodding legend Gene Winfield, who worked at Traditional Coach Works between 1974 and 1977. The pickup was available alongside the Mirage Sport Wagon and the Castilian Fleetwood Estate Wagon, extremely rare vehicles.
1976 Cadillac Mirage for Sale on eBay
The Cadillac Mirage in this auction is a 1976 model. It’s one of the 200 or so examples built using the Gene Winfield design at TCW. The Mirage comes with the 500 cubic inch engine that was standard with the DeVille for 1976. The mighty V8 produces a meager 210 horsepower but a respectable 360 pound-feet of torque. The seller says it’s in good running condition. There’s cosmetic work to be done due to a moisture issue however, and a few trim problems. Yet, with all the parts save the truck bed shared with the DeVille coupe, bringing the pickup back to its former glory seems like a reasonable project.
When’s the last time you saw a Gene Winfield design that didn’t bear an outlandish price tag? It’s hard to say if this 1976 Cadillac Mirage will appreciate in value as a recognized period-custom, but one thing’s for sure: with just 200 or so made, it’s very unlikely that you’ll park next to another one at the next classic car show.
