The Dodge brand has created many of the best-known rear-wheel-drive, V8-powered cars in automotive history, but the Mirada is not one of them. Offered for the 1980 through 1983 model years, the Mirada was built on the same J-body chassis platform as the Chrysler Cordoba, effectively replacing the Dodge Magnum. The Mirada even had a short-lived career in the top NASCAR ranks, but due to poor sales and a shift to smaller, front-drive vehicles, the roomy Dodge coupe left the lineup before it could ever secure its place in the automotive history books.
I have owned at least one Dodge Mirada and as many as three at once dating back to the mid-1990s and I still have a 1983 Mirada with a mild 340 under the hood, so it should go without saying that I am a big fan of the model. For many years, I was aware that the original Dodge Mirada Concept car was in private hands and available for purchase, but as cool as it would have been, I was never in any position to buy a concept car for the kind of money being asked. However, in 2022, word spread through the Mopar® social media channels that the car had been purchased by two guys who planned to showcase and preserve the car.
The buyers’ names are Kyle Karp and David Cohen, and when I recently saw Karp post in the MOPAR M, J, F, R, Y & B Body Fans group, I reached out for more information on the Mirada Concept – both how he came to own it and how a concept car was sold to a private buyer. After all, most concept cars are either destroyed or kept in company collections, making private ownership of this Dodge Mirada Concept particularly rare.
The First Dodge Mirada
The silver car shown here was likely the first Dodge Mirada to be built on the Windsor Assembly line back in September of 1979. The then-new Mirada was set to debut for the 1980 model year, so this car was used to test and adjust the assembly line before full production began. After it rolled off of that assembly line, it was then sent to a company called Synthetex to be transformed into a normal production car into the Dodge Mirada Concept that you see here. Synthetex was involved with my Chrysler Corporation concept and show cars in that era and according to Kyle Karp, the project manager for this build was Dennis Heepy.
Heepy had 6 weeks and $80,000 to create the Dodge Mirada Concept, which varies a great deal from a production Mirada, but first, he had to work out quite a few issues from the test production program – the most difficult of which was getting all of the body panels smooth and lined-up well enough that this car would look perfect on the nation’s biggest automotive stages. He found that the initial molded “nose” of the car was too soft and had already gotten wavy during the production process. Both that piece and the rear quarter extensions could not be polished or touched-up enough to be show quality, so Synthetex acquired the clay model of the Mirada from the company. The team used that to craft a solid epoxy front fascia for the concept car. Next, the quarter panel extensions around the taillights were removed and replaced by a solid, one-piece rear end clip and at the same time, the rear bumper was shortened and tucked in tighter to the body. The build team also removed the rear quarter windows and welded a metal panel in place to make a much beefier rear pillar.
Next, one of the distinct aspects of the concept car that didn’t make it to production was the headlight covers. Those were something that Dennis Heepy created and installed on his own, and when members of the Dodge team stopped to check on the car, they loved how the covered headlights looked, so those became a feature of the concept car. However, they were held on with pins and velcro, not a system that would work for road use, but since they didn’t make it to production, that didn’t matter – they looked great on the concept car.
Finally, while Synthetex was taking care of the body, another company named Cars and Concepts was tasked with creating a T-top roof for the Dodge Mirada Concept. According to Karp, the concept T-top construction features a collection of custom parts and items off of other cars, including items from a Ford Mustang. Once the roof treatment was installed, the whole car was painted Laquer Turbo Silver by Mike Sancho, and while it initially had chrome trim, that was all painted black at some point after the car left Synthetex.
Once the exterior was completed with its unique look, the team turned its attention to the interior. When this Dodge Mirada came off of the assembly line, it had a blue interior. The front seats were reupholstered in black leather while the rear seats, dashboard and all interior plastics were spray-dyed black. The upper door panels, known by all Mirada owners to crack around the door lock button, were wrapped in black vinyl to complete the one-of-one black leather look and to hide the annoying crack in the trim piece.
When it was fully completed and ready for the big auto show circuit, the Dodge Mirada Concept looked very different than a production Dodge Mirada. I have included a picture of my stock 1983 Mirada below for comparison.
Auctioned Into Civilian Life
Some of you might be wondering how a concept car was ever sold, as concepts are generally either kept in an automaker’s collection or they are destroyed, since they often have non-production components that may not be approved for road use. When I first learned about the Dodge Mirada Concept being for sale years ago, there was a story going around that this concept had literally been stolen from a company holding lot by a Detroit police officer who had fallen in love with the car, effectively saving it from the crusher. As it turns out, the story of how a concept car got into public hands isn’t anywhere near that dramatic, but this car was fortunate to have escaped demolition – and it does involve a Detroit police officer.
This was how Kyle Karl explained the escape from demolition to me:
“Now here’s where things are going to get interesting, around 1983-1984, Jim Belinda, a Chrysler corporate employee or as some of you may know as the guy who runs the Mopar Nationals, was perusing the Lynch Road lot looking for a new car. Back in the day, many of the demos and press cars would come back to Chrysler and get parked at the Lynch Road Assembly Plant lot where they could be bought at significant discounts with very low mileage on them. These cars were all regular production cars and DOT legal. For whatever reason, Jim stumbled upon the Mirada parked in the lot. He popped in it and it fired right up. He checked the car over pretty well being it was a concept vehicle there was a risk it could have been unfinished and undrivable. According to Jim, it seemed mechanically okay so he took down the VIN and went to the purchasing department to claim his new ride.
“After doing some paperwork and writing out a check for about $4,000 Jim celebrated his new purchase by immediately bragging about it to his friend and co-worker Bob Banta. Bob worked in Chrysler’s legal department, I think you see where this is going… Bob takes a professional high ground and tells Jim, ‘That’s a concept car, Jim, you can’t buy it and we have to have it crushed.’ To Jim’s surprise, he shows up to work the next day to find a check of $4,000 back on his desk and the Mirada was gone from the Lynch Road lot.
“Now the exact years and timing of the rest of this is a little fuzzy but we estimate these next events were over the course of a year. One of the rumors about the Mirada was that Creative Industries was the builder of the car. This was speculated by the cars second owner around the early 2000s when he found a Creative Industries keychain in the car. Creative Industries, from what I understand, was actually just the Mirada’s handler. They had been tasked with transporting and maintaining the car as it traveled to the shows. After the car left the Lynch Road lot, it traveled about 4 miles up the road back to Creative Industries. My theory is that they had some contract or understanding with Chrysler to “dispose” of the car.
“A few people that lived and worked in the area told me that the Mirada spent months outside sitting behind a fenced lot at Creative Industries until one day they auctioned the thing off. This information was brought to me by Bill Adams who was an engineer at Chrysler in the Road Test garage. Bill also worked on the Viper Team. Amongst Bill’s interesting life in Michigan, one memory he was nice enough to share with me was attending an auction at Creative Industries and one of the things being auctioned off amongst some gutted FWD prototype cars was this Mirada. According to several sources, Creative was at the very least supposed to destroy the front and rear clip, as well as cut out the T roof and sell the rest of the car as scrap. This obviously went down differently. Bill had entered a bidding war for this car but lost interest and tapped out around $4,000. I believe the car was being sold with no paperwork and it was Bill of Sale only, but that’s not %100 confirmed. According to my records, it looks like the first time a title was issued for the car was 2001 and it has never been registered.
“The winning bid was James Devolder. James is no longer with us but his son has taken the time to share info with me. James was a big car enthusiast, former Detroit police officer and owned Rattle Run Recycling in Michigan. Him and his son Mark took great care of the car up until the point they sold it in 2001. According to Mark, when they went to pick up the car, it was fully intact without a scratch on it. They even started it right up and drove home. Now what I found interesting about it was that I had spoken to several people at Chrysler who assured me that the car was never supposed to leave in 1 piece. I also have 2 sources that claim documents came into the office and were filed stating the car was disabled and destroyed. It’s unclear what type of back door deals may have taken place or perhaps somebody nobody even knows was in the mix just trying to protect it, but that is a mystery that’s yet to be solved.
There was one incident that Mark Devolder had brought up about a disgruntled dealer who lost out on the car at the auction that was making waves and reporting the car as being on the road and illegally used. Nothing much came of that aside from an investigator looking into it and losing interest after seeing the car had no miles on it. James did happily attend a Chrysler-hosted show in the late ’80s/early ’90s where Jim Belinda nearly s#!% a brick after being under the impression it was crushed back in 1983.”
After some time owning the car, Mark Devolder sold the Dodge Mirada Concept to a man named Craig Holder, who would go on to sell the car to Karp.
“Craig was a vintage toy and model collector/dealer. He ended up at James’s garage in an effort to purchase a large portion of the Johan model archives. Buried under a cover behind the Johan Archives, Craig asked, “What’s that under the cover?” James proudly replied, “That’s a concept car.” Craig, full of disbelief, made an offer on the car immediately and bought it. Craig at the time had plans to take the car home to Pennsylvania and flip it. In theory, this was actually a pretty good plan. Unfortunately, this was 2001 and nobody cared about anything from the 1980s yet. Radwood and the Malaise movement were not even a thought yet. These cars were all still secondhand beaters and though this Mirada may have been the Holy Grail of Malaise Era Mopars, it still had spent almost 20 years hidden with no real evidence of it being a real concept car. Aside from its physical existence and a Creative Industries keychain there wasn’t much else to stick to it. People had forgotten about it and the stories were lost.
“My attraction to the car started just before Craig had bought it. At a very young age, my dad had shown me a photo of the car that he had gotten from Steve Juliano. My dad and Steve had spoken a few times about some stuff my dad was trying to sell. Whatever dealings they were working, Steve had told him he knew where the car was and he’d help us get it if we were interested. Unfortunately, we were a small family that already had a car and a house in New Jersey with property taxes and a mortgage attached.
“Fast forward to 2006 and it was my first memorable trip to Chryslers at Carlisle. After hours of walking the vending area, I see the silver paint of this Mirada sticking out from under a car cover. Sitting in the back of a tent in the swap meet with a cover pulled just ¼ of the way off the front. There was a small sign leaning on it and it was for sale for a hefty 6-figure number at the time. At the young age of 10, I took a business card and continued about my day.
“Finally it’s 2021. Many things have changed and I’m now 26 years old. I’ve dropped out of college in 2016 to pursue a life working in the film industry with my friends supplying vehicles for movies and TV shows. I also have a nice side business buying and selling mostly vintage cars. At this point, business was going well, I was moving pretty expensive metal and I had started to establish my own customer base in the film car industry. I had just gotten off a feature film where I wrangled over a dozen hero cars for a movie called Brave The Dark. After 6 weeks of filming, I collected a nice well-earned pay day. Then around New Years, I sold my 1970 Dodge Charger RT/SE and a 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner. I had both cars prior to the COVID market jump so it felt like a good time to learn to let go and have something aside for my retirement someday.
“Fast forward again to February of 2022. Amongst many questionable decisions and years of haggling and pestering Craig Holder, I found myself along with my good friend and fellow picture car vendor David Cohen driving out to Pennsylvania with a few large stacks of money and an empty trailer in tow behind us. David, a fellow car collector and enthusiast of the Malaise era cars, was happy to come along and join me as a co-owner of the Mirada. It’s not everyday you have an opportunity to have ownership in a concept car. As far as car collecting goes, it’s one hell of a box to check off your resume.
“Craig brought us out to a storage locker in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. I’m not certain how long it had been sitting but the tires had all leaked most of their air, The battery was dead as a rock and over 8 years old, and the car had a good layer of dust on it despite the efforts of the car cover. Craig told me he hasn’t even opened the locker in years. There were signs of bugs and mice under the car cover but no real permanent damage had happened. I recall Dave trying to pop a T roof out and it was stuck tight to the seal. I asked Craig the last time they were out. “At least 20 years,” he replied. Dave immediately latches it again and says, “I’m gonna just stop now.” I found that a bit funny.
“A couple of hours go by of chit chat and throwing numbers around. Finally we shook hands and I was hooking a set of tow chains under the car and winching it up onto a trailer. All around, this was a great deal. Dave and I were very pleased and Craig and his wife were both happy to see the car going to a loving home. The drive home was very interesting. Both Dave and I had a good feeling the car was legitimate but we really lacked a smoking gun or real burden of proof. At this point, there weren’t really any stories or solid evidence proving the car to be what it was.”
Of course, we all know that this is the Dodge Mirada Concept that has been showcased on ‘80s Mopar and Malaise Facebook groups and discussion forums for decades, and it now belongs to Kyle Karp.
Shortly after acquiring the Dodge Mirada Concept, Karp began performing the maintenance needed to move the car around safely. After changing all of the fluids, installing a new battery and filling the tank with fresh gasoline, the Mirada Concept started and ran “like the day it was new”. After moving the car a few times, both front brake calipers seized up, at which point the braking system was repaired before its maiden voyage around Karp’s neighborhood. The morning after that first drive, he found that the original radiator had leaked badly, so he took that radiator and had it rebuilt by a local radiator shop – preserving the originality of the car.
Around this same time, Karp began showing the car off in various Facebook groups and it was getting a ton of attention. As a result, he was invited to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Illinois. In preparation for that, he took the Mirada Concept to his detailer to have the car thoroughly prepared for its big show debut. At that event, Karp was approached by folks who had worked for Cars and Concepts and people who worked at Synthetex, all of whom provided bits of information that we discussed above in the section about how the car got into public hands. It was also at this event where he met Ralph Gilles.
“One of the highlights of the show for me was when I ran into Ralph Gilles and we took a walk through the show over to the Mirada so he could see it up close and check it out. It meant a lot to me that a busy and very prominent name in the Mopar world wanted to come see the car and let me show it to him. That was a fun time playing with the air horns and talking with this Detroit car designer about the styling and construction of it. The legitimacy of how this car left Chrysler is questionable at best, so I was relieved to hear him tell me, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not trying to get it back,’ prior to asking me how I was able to get it.”
Since then, Kyle Karp has continued to showcase the Dodge Mirada Concept at events around the East Coast, giving attendees a chance to see a truly rare collectible – a legitimate, privately owned concept car.
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