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Cadillac Pick Up article in self starter

Started by "Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364, November 01, 2016, 10:59:38 AM

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76eldo

Def not ElCaminos with caddy fronts.
Caddys with ElCamino beds sounds more plausible.

Sign me up for an Eldo Camino.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Jeff Wilk

Greg, owners of which conversions are you looking for?  Paris, Caribou, or Mirage owners?

Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

TJ Hopland

Quote from: 76eldo on November 05, 2016, 12:42:14 PMSign me up for an Eldo Camino.

What if those people met up with American Sunroof?    An Eldomino convertible? 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Jeff Wilk

Like this Mirage TJ?


Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

Jeff Wilk

Greg, they are actually T-Tops!!!  I saw one other with T-Tops also but cant locate the photo.

Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

TJ Hopland

Cool stuff.

So what sort of person bought these?   Presumably it was people that at least occasionally were going to haul something?   But wanted to do it in style?   Or is it like many truck owners especially more recently where they just liked the look of a truck but never hauled anything? 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

35-709

#28
Red Adair, the oil well firefighter had one or more, believe he had some for his higher echelon people.  Successful construction company owners, gentleman farmers, people with enough money that wanted an El Camino but didn't want a mere Chevrolet.  The conversion more or less doubled the price of the Coupe deVille.  Evel Knievel had one (or two) set up to carry a Harley which is now in a museum in Branson, Missouri.  Aaand people who just like to have different cars, er, trucks --- like me.

While I had my Caribou I toted a '62 Cadillac engine from Dan LeBlanc from upstate New York to Florida, drove to Connecticut from Florida to pick up and trailer back the Mark 5 Jaguar Saloon I am working on for my wife, etc.  I used it (carefully) with no damage to the bed, as a truck and daily driver.
1935 Cadillac Sedan resto-mod "Big Red"
1973 Cadillac Caribou - Sold - but still in the family
1950 Jaguar Mark V Saloon resto-mod - Sold
1942 Cadillac 6269 - Sold
1968 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible - Sold
1950 Packard 2dr. Club Sedan
1935 Glenn Pray - Auburn Boattail Speedster, Gen. 2

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

T-tops must have been installed after the car was delivered to the customer.  They essentially destroy any structural integrity of the roof structure and as such would not have been approved by the manufacturer.

TJ, Although they are HIGHLY desirable today, I have to believe the corporate "Guru" that came up with the idea ended his career with it.  I remember that there were two Mirages on the showroom floor and one in the storage building for almost a year at Lou Ehlers Cadillac in Los Angeles in 1976.  The car-to-truck concept began with the model T, so that was not new.  Aside from the egocentric who once the conversion was available to the public no longer though they were "cool", this was a time of gasoline shortages an a descending economy, which accounts for the limited production and not being continued into future year models (via the factory's blessings).
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

Jeff Wilk

Now this is a one off but it is another pick up conversion.....

Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

The Tassie Devil(le)

Quote from: "Cadillac Kid"  Greg Surfas 15364 on November 06, 2016, 11:32:06 AM
The car-to-truck concept began with the model T, so that was not new.   Greg Surfas
Yes, there were vehicles with a separate passenger and cargo construction but the car to truck version as shown with the Cadillacs was put into practice here in Australia, when the wife of a Farmer wrote a letter to the Australian Ford Factory, wanting a vehicle that could go to church on Sunday, and carry the pigs to market on a monday.

This eventually came out as the worlds' first Coupe/Utility vehicle, or Ute, as we call them, where a Coupe body was cut off behind the rear window, and the side paneling extended to the rear of the chassis, creating a carrying area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)

Lou Brandt was the designer, and it appeared in 1934, and was a roaring success, and the last combined Ford Ute was built in 1998, when in 1999 they separated the body from the back, as in the USA Pick-up style.

GM in Australia is still building the "Ute", but the last one will appear when we stop production of the Commodore in 2017, ending a long history of Aussie built and designed vehicles.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

Besides Jeff,
Any current owners?
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

The mystery seems to be solved as to why there aren't more posts on these cars.
I just got my 2017 membership directory and according to it there are only six 75-76 Mirages registered with the CLC and apparently I am the only one with the "Paris" conversion.
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

Gene Beaird

Quote from: gross707 on November 04, 2016, 07:44:56 AM
Here's my '75 Caribou.  I guess it belongs in the "modified modified" class as I've changed out the fiberglass bed and also done some engine work.

I don't remember the year, probably 1974/75 time, because I was still in high school, my Dad and I pulled into a local gas station to fill up.  There was a red Cadillac 'pickup' in the lane next to us, much like the one you have here.  My Dad and  came over to get a closer look, and I commented that it looked pretty cool.  The driver thanked us, and said his company had these for the company cars.  He had a sign on the side of the door: 

Red Adair Oil Well Blowout Control Services

We were talking to The Man!  Very nice conversation.  He and my Dad were Cadillac guys, and I was just enjoying the 'car talk'. 
Gene Beaird,
1968 Calais
1979 Seville
Pearland, Texas
CLC Member No. 29873

Jeff Wilk

VERY COOL story!!!  Thanks for sharing it.

Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

g27g28

Jeff do you know the owner of the gold Mirage you posted a picture of?  There was one here for sale exactly like that on Craigslist a few years ago for I think 13.5k.  It seems the Caribou was offered after 1979 but I have never seen one, does anyone have pictures?  Looking at the literature picture on page 25 of the self starter, they should have done something different with that roof line.
1941 Series 62
1954 Coupe DeVille
1978 Phaeton
1980 Fleetwood