Probably the nicest Durango I have ever seen. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Ford-...001027?hash=item23a50dcf43:g:TJ0AAOSwU3VbQ3po
Probably? In person or in photos? How many Durangos have you seen? Until this moment, I had never heard of the Ford Durango, let alone seen one live or in photos. According to Wikipedia, where I went to find out more info, apparently only about 350 in total were made, depending on which source you use as apparently no production records were kept, over the four years they were produced. At 350, that comes to an average of seven per U.S. state, so they weren't exactly on every street corner. To have seen even one Durango, let alone multiple numbers of them, puts you in a very rarified class of people.
There always seems to be 1 or 2 at the Ford Nats in Carlisle PA first week of June. I tend to think the people that are lucky enough to have one know what they are and treat them accordingly.
Did you all catch the word 'CLONE' in the ad title? - This is not a REAL Ford Fairmont Durango. This is a clone, built by someone else. ALL of the REAL Durangos were from the 1981 model year, and they all had the straight 6 in them. Also, if you look closely at the tail gate area, it's not like the Durango gate. On the real Durango gate, the quarter panel extention pieces that were above the ends of the tail lamp assemblies, were attached to the gate itself. With this one, they are not. Pics of REAL Durango: Durango gate, open position: To make the Durango, the conversion company started with one of these: Wikipedia article on the Durango https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Durango
They were invented and sent down by space aliens. In one of them, a head of state with an equally questionable birth certificate rode along
I saw the clone thing, but I guess I read it differently. According to wiki they did build these from '79-'82. It looks to me more like he started with a Durango except he finished it the way it should have been from the factory but who knows. I always thought the way they did the tailgate on these looked kind of half-baked. I like how he kept the corners of the taillights fixed to the body and made the tailgate more truck-like. I also see that his rear window is different from a stock Durango and the rear wheel wells are more squared off versus the original version. In my opinion none of that really takes away from the vehicle even though I don't really care for the Fairmont front end. I wouldn't consider a Durango terribly valuable even given their low production numbers. I'd rather drive this than a stock Durango. It doesn't say if he has done a five lug conversion, but the fact that it has rear drums leads me to believe it is still four lug. In the description he says it has a 9" rearend, but the appraisal (from seven years ago) says it has an 8.8" which is more likely. Overall a well executed vehicle.
Thanks for the info Krash. There is one that has been for sale at a Houston area used car dealer for a while. They were asking $10k for it in #3 condition. You can also spot the original conversions by the stainless trim between the steel body and fiberglass insert (which the eBay listing is lacking). The Ford authorized conversions were sold through Ford dealers with a full Ford warranty in 1981. Story is that the converter shut down production after the death of the owner after the first year of production and less than projected sales.
I think that Wikipedia is wrong on that point of fact. Doing a bit of non-conclusive research, I find that the great majority of real Durangos listed for sale have indeed been 1981 models. There was ONE listed as a 1982 model. There's probably ONE GUY out there who is the ultimate 'Durango Expert', and knows all the facts, but I haven't found him yet.
When I lived in Colorado, there was a shop in Englewood that had at least 3 or 4 Durangos sitting out front. However, that was about 10 years ago.
