Ultra-Rare 1981 Ford Durango Pickup Found Sitting In Storage
This rarely-seen car/truck has been hiding in plain sight for years now.
Special Find
The world of Ford trucks is a vast one, filled with many models and variants built over more than a century. Along the way, some Blue Oval trucks have become somewhat obscure and forgotten, including the Durango - a car-based pickup sequel to the Ranchero that was built in scant quantities. And that makes this recent discovery by Junkyard Digs rather special.
Quite Rare
Ford built the Durango from 1979 to 1982 - quite a few years before Dodge applied that name to its own SUV. However, very few were actually produced - just 212, to be exact - making it a rather obscure footnote in Ford history. Of course, the automaker had much bigger plans for the pickup, but they just didn't come to fruition.
Coachbuilt
The Durango started life as a Fairmont Futura two-door coupe, which Ford shipped off to National Coach Works of Los Angeles, California, to create a new Chevy El Camino competitor. As one might imagine, that company simply removed the car's rear section, roof, and pretty much everything else behind the B-pillar and replaced it with a fiberglass bed, making it a pickup.
Disclaimer
Out back, the Durango kept the Fairmont's taillights and license plate layout, but the addition of the fold-down tailgate landed it a disclaimer warning owners not to drive it around with that unit folded down. The plan was to put the Durango into large-scale production, but alas, those plans went awry when the original designer passed away.
Back to Life
As for this particular Durango, it's been in storage since 2012, though it's in pretty solid condition regardless. The two-tone white and blue paint isn't original, as this example was previously painted all-blue, while the interior was restitched in the same color combo. The original 3.3-liter I-6 - which produces a mere 94 horsepower - also came back to life after a bit of work.
Worth Saving
Emerging from storage after a decade of gathering dust, it isn't a surprise that the Durango didn't quite manage to make it 400 miles back to the new owner's home, and had to be towed the rest of the way. Regardless, even if it probably won't ever be some valuable collector's item, this rare slice of Blue Oval history is certainly worth saving.
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