1979 Mercury Ranchero

[dburdyshaw]

I thought that they were called Durangos.

Here's the link

[Chuck W]

Being a '79, it's not a Durango. Those were '81 only.

[Capriman86]

I haven't seen one of those done before, looks like they did a good job.

[75coug]

The exterior looks great. Very well executed.

[anthonydalrymple]

That bed is a hack job & I wouldn't give 'em spit for that wreck.....

[Ltngdrvr]

They're pretty close to me, maybe I will go have a look see.

[dburdyshaw]

They're pretty close to me, maybe I will go have a look see.

If you do, TAKE PICS!!!

[Ltngdrvr]

If you do, TAKE PICS!!!

Heck, he has a bunch of pics already in his auction ad.

[Chuck W]

That bed is a hack job & I wouldn't give 'em spit for that wreck.....

And the Durango beds were part of a FG tub....not diamond plate.

[Ltngdrvr]

If anyone else is near Houston, TX. that wants to see it, they are in Conroe, 800 W. Davis street.

[Blainer]

That spare tire is also supposed to be in the cab behind the seat. you would have to go through that car with a fine tooth comb because it is not a original durrango.

[Dean_T]

That car was feature here or in the FYI before. I recall this only because someone used a Futura/Z-7 roof on a wagon body to create this car -er, truck. The paint scheme is pretty unique also.

Dean T

[Streetmonkey]

Those are 78 park/turn signal housings up front also. Inside of the bed looks pretty rough. I am not crazy about the wheels. The seat would have been a split back and I don't think that one is.

[SVO4PWR2]

And the Durangos were 6 bangers

-RICH-

[JACook]

Those are 78 park/turn signal housings up front also. Inside of the bed looks pretty rough. I am not crazy about the wheels. The seat would have been a split back and I don't think that one is.

The park lights are the '78 units, but then, the front bumper is the '80 and later style.
The seat is definitely split bench, with the 2-door style backrests.

It's pretty safe to say this car did not begin life as a station wagon. It is a Z7 coupe
with station wagon rear corners and tailgate. I think this actually looks better than the
Durango's Futura tail end. The diamond plate and un-sealed spare tire hatch don't do
much for me though.

The only thing that puzzles me is the single tailpipe on the passenger side...

[Blainer]

I told him he has a mock up Durrango on his hands and that he will never get $9000.00 for it in his buy it now. I also told him about the errors on the car.

[JACook]

Well, anything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And they're only
'errors' if he was trying to build a Durango clone, which he clearly was not.

Some lapses in execution aside, I'd take something like this over a Durango any day.

[Blainer]

He sent me a message back. Dont laugh all at once....

Dear 1983ttop,

Actually it was a show car called the Ranchero Scrambler. The Durango name has always been owned by Chrysler. The spare was in the cab but moved to a better location to get more inside room by a past owner. Actually, the body work is excellent. Not a hack job at all, however, there is one saving grace to this whole thing ~ you won't be buying the car.


- americanclassiccars-conroe Did this answer your question? If not, let the seller know.



Item and user details
Item Title: Mercury
Item Number: 170190505020
Item URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=170190505020
End Date: 07-Feb-08 20:21:12 EST
From User: americanclassiccars-conroe (382)
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Member since 04-Dec-02 in United States
Location : TX, United States
Activity with americanclassiccars-conroe (last 90 days):I have bid on 0 items from americanclassiccars-conroe

[silverfive0]

Ya know, even if I were dying to own that car AND had the money to play with, after reading his attitude in his responce to Blainer, I'd tell him shove his lil hacked up POS where the son don't shine. Tell me where he gets off having that kind of attitude? He admits he knows nothing for sure about the cars history, then has the guts to be like that.....some people just REALLY frutrate me in that sense. Obvioulsy he's just another dealer, not a true hobbiest!!

Later, RAY

[Dean_T]

Jeff, now that you've mentioned it, it would make sense to start with a Z-7 body rather than do all the work of grafting in roof and B pillars.

What about the front bumpers make them '80 and later? Other than the one in the picture being very shiney, it looks just like the one on my '78 Friggin' Futura. I bought Friggin' from the son of the original owner (little old lady from Burbank). I don't think they would have bothered swapping bumpers. They didn't even bother getting the proper tail light lenses when the orignals fell out.

Dean T

[JACook]

Jeff, now that you've mentioned it, it would make sense to start with a Z-7 body rather than do all the work of grafting in roof and B pillars.

It'd be more than that. The rear quarter panels are also different. Basically, if you started
with a wagon, you'd only keep the pan, the sheetmetal from the A-pillar forward, and the
rear corners and bottom half of the tailgate. Wouldn't make much sense.

What about the front bumpers make them '80 and later? Other than the one in the picture being very shiney, it looks just like the one on my '78 Friggin' Futura.

Look closely at the distance between the rubber biscuits. The '78 and '79 bumper had them
farther apart. I believe they went closer together in '80, for sure they're closer together on
my '81 Futura than they are on my '79 StaWag.

[Blainer]

I sent him a email back with these links because he questioned my knowledge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Durango

http://www.festivals-and-shows.com/1...-fairmont.html

http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/...02_resized.jpg

[Dean_T]

It'd be more than that. The rear quarter panels are also different. Basically, if you started
with a wagon, you'd only keep the pan, the sheetmetal from the A-pillar forward, and the
rear corners and bottom half of the tailgate. Wouldn't make much sense.



Look closely at the distance between the rubber biscuits. The '78 and '79 bumper had them
farther apart. I believe they went closer together in '80, for sure they're closer together on
my '81 Futura than they are on my '79 StaWag.

Yup, knew about the rear quarters too (just couldn't tell from the pics, the white was too white to tell for me).

Cool, more FZ variations. I have the front bumper from my '81 ex-cop Fairmont and of course, my '83 2 dr sedan. I'll have to measure them against the two '78s I have. One of these days, I need to post my Fairmont variation by year matrix.

Then there were the front bumpers with no bumperettes!

Thanks!

Dean T

[tbirdsps]

I just have to jump in here.

I've never seen a Zephyr done up like this. Not that they weren't ever sold. But, there's a Ford dealer in Jacksonville Florida, I can't remember the road but it was near cross street was Lane avenue on the west side of town that sold the Durango's or whatever they were called when I lived there in the 70's and early 80's. They were converted Fairmont two door Futuras. The inside of the bed was fiberglass. The rear quarters were modified at the rear to accept the tailgate. I'm not sure what company did the modification but it was contracted by Ford simialar to the way the Cougars and Tbirds went to a sub-contactor for the convirtible mod. They sold for 2 years I think and the base price at the time was $9,800 or there abouts.

I'm thinking it was 1980 or 1981 as the Ranchero when away after 79 and it was a quasi Ranchero replacement.

[LTDScott]

That is clearly home built or aftermarket, not a real Durango. The biggest clue: The real Durangos used the Futura taillights, not wagon taillights. Also, it looks like the rear window on this thing is the back window from a Fairmont wagon hatch.

And of course the seller is wrong about the ASC history, etc. But it'd be a fun parts hauler for sure.