I grew up on Long Island thisclose to Manhattan so I contribute my most-urban upbringing to my lacking any appreciation for pickup trucks as anything more than appliances. Even more so, I've never "gotten" pickup cars like the Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero. Yes. Pickup cars; what else to call them? What then do I make of Ford's 1979-1982 Durango? Our pristine subject here hails from model year 1982.
Well, frankly, I don't get this thing anymore than I do an El Camino or Ranchero but seeing how unique, different and rare these are, this begs a closer look. Let's drop the tailgate and pretend to do whatever folks do with these things.
Legend has it Ford didn't want to commit to jumping back into the pickup car market after they pulled the plug on their Ranchero after model year 1978. So, to not leave General Motors having a market niche all to themselves, they partnered with National Coachworks in Los Angeles on a series of pickup cars based on Ford's then new for 1978 Fairmont Futura two-door.
Ford Durango's, of course these are not to be confused with Dodge's Durango which is an SUV, have a fiberglass bed and a tail-gate that folds-down just like a pickup truck (and the Ranchero and El Camino) but the difference is the tailgate on the Durango is a custom built job made from the rear end of the Futura coupe. Ranchero's and El Camino's, including the new for 1978 downsized El Camino, used a station wagon tailgate instead. That means on the Ford Durango, the taillights and what not fold down with the tailgate; unlike station wagons where the taillights are tucked into the back of the rear quarter-panels. So, dang it, you can't ride around with the tailgate down or remove it for improved aerodynamics lest run the possibility of Smokey citing you.
Ford built a Faimont wagon so you'd think they could have used the tailgate from those cars but that would have complicated matters. Ford, technically, didn't build these things therefore making the Durango from a Fairmont coupe and a Fairmont wagon would have been logistically challenging. Also would have made Duragno's more expensive.
So, these things boil down to all but custom jobs you could buy directly from Ford although they were never officially part of the Ford lineup between 1979 and 1982. Neither Ford nor National Coachworks kept tabs on how many were actually produced although most accounts have it that as few as little more than two-hundred were manufactured in total.
All Durango's were powered by Ford's 3.3-liter inline six and a three-speed automatic. A dull if not dutiful power train pairing. Not that Ford's 302 cubic-inch V-8 of the vintage was that much more of a performer; keep in mind the era this thing comes from. Since these are, at the end of the day, Ford Fox-bodies, there are scores of after-market parts available to improve performance although I don't know how much you can hop up this chuffer of a smog-era clogged six. Personally, I find there is something to be said for keeping this thing as close to original as possible. Our children and grand children need to appreicate just how bad we had it back then.
Oh, for the record, in most states in this country, El Camino's, Ranchero's and these things are classified as trucks.
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