Friday Rides - The Good - The Bad - And The Ugly

 1979 Mercury Durango (Prototype?)

Only the most die-hard Blue Oval fans likely remember the Ford Fairmont Durango, which wasn't a factory-built machine. Rather, Ford designer Dick Nesbitt came up with the idea for a pickup version of the Fairmont, which The Blue Oval opted not to put into production. However, National Coach, a custom-car builder based in Gardena, California, did wind up building around 212 examples of the car/pickup, and we've seen a couple surface in recent years, though this is the first time we've come across a Mercury Durango.
This 1979 Mercury Durango is currently being auctioned off at Hagerty, and it reportedly pre-dated the Ford version. This particular example left the factory as a Zephyr, and then underwent its major transformation. It's believed that this was actually a pre-production prototype for the National Coach Works' Ford Durango, in fact, which would make it a pretty cool slice of automotive history, if that is indeed true.
Like the Ford Durangos that followed, this Mercury Durango traded its rear roof section, back seat, and trunk for a fiberglass pickup bed, along with a tailgate and revised rear end, in general. It also has plenty of brightwork to accompany its tan exterior paint and multi-color graphics.
Power comes from the naturally-aspirated 302 cubic-inch Ford V8, mated to a three-speed automatic transmission.
Whether or not this Mercury Durango is the prototype that started it all remains to be seen, but the tea leaves certainly suggest that it is.

https://fordauthority.com/2026/03/extremely-unique-1979-mercury-durango-heading-to-auction/

I found the link to this article at:
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-ford-fairmont-durango-wasnt-factory.html

R.I.P. Chuck Norris

 Chuck Norris has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”
“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

While I was never a huge Norris fan, it would be ignorant to try and deny that he was a MAJOR Hollywood star and his fans were dedicated and widespread.

Liberal Restaurant In Little Rock, AR Doesn't Want Our Business

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she was asked to leave a Little Rock restaurant after her office claims that the restaurant’s owner said employees felt “threatened and uncomfortable.”
According to a Wednesday night statement from the governor’s office, Sanders, while accompanied by an Arkansas State Police protection detail, was having lunch on Friday at the Little Rock restaurant called The Croissanterie.
“After the group had been seated at two separate tables for about an hour and fifteen minutes and had paid and tipped the restaurant staff, The Croissanterie’s owner approached a member of the Governor’s Executive Protection Detail and asked the Governor to leave because her presence was ‘making employees threatened and uncomfortable’ because of her political views,” the governor’s spokesperson said.
The governor’s spokesperson stated that Sander’s group began to leave the restaurant when a man standing with members of the staff, “yelled ‘it’s time to go’ and made a crude hand gesture in the Governor’s direction.”
The governor also shared a statement:

KARK 4 News has reached out to The Croissanterie for comment, but has not yet heard back.

These are the 'chefs' at the Croissanterie. I don't even need to tell you what their political beliefs are:

The online ratings for the restaurant are 3.5. That's 3.5 out of 5 for a place whose specialty is "croissants."

KATV News Video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rAQqdwniYk&t=8s

Another Major Kill In The Iranian Terrorist Regime

Random Political Memes/Cartoons Dump - 3.20.2026

Too Stupid Too Drive A Car Much Less A Tractor/Trailer

The crossing arm came down between the truck cab and the trailer. Why didn't this moron just back up and possibly destroy the crossing arm rather than let a locomotive destroy the truck and probably do damage to the locomotive and other train cars. He doesn't need to have a drivers license AT ALL.

The notes say this actually happened in Versailles, Ohio, rather than Canada. The driver was also said to be from India. Did he get his CDL in NY or CA ... probably.

https://x.com/Shareme23/status/2034309718647455784

There's More Than One Dirty Old GOAT

In this photograph ... I think that might be Cederq.

Trump Throws Pearl Harbor In The Mix With Japanese PM Sitting Right There

  Trump don't have no filter, LOL.

I imagine the reporter who asked that question is being shamed right now.

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2034665648387678316

Random Political Memes/Cartoons Dump - 3.18.2026 - 2

 

There are some reasonable arguments for some muslim women to wear those body bags/burkas ... whatever.

Could it be because good looking women are "in" again and fugly women are "out"? Just sayin'.

 One of my thoughts on the issue.

Eventually you run out of other people's money.

Tommy Tuberville Has NO REGRETS Over Social Media Posts Criticizing islam

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said he has no regrets after drawing liberal condemnation last week on social media for once again criticizing the growing influence of radical Islam on American society and government.
During a Monday appearance on Newsmax's "The Todd Starnes Show," the legislator reaffirmed his recent statements made on X, while speaking of the dangers presented to non-Muslims by the central religious text of Islam.

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2033687273670083026

"I meant every word I said. The enemy is inside our gates. We got them here," Tuberville told Starnes. "Joe Biden and Barack Obama brought them here by the thousands. It's a disgrace. If you preach or teach Sharia law, you need to go home. You don't fit in the United States of America. We're a Christian country. If you pray to the Quran, the Quran says to kill all infidels. And infidels are people who are not Muslims, and that means all Americans and all Christians who are not Muslims."
Tuberville added, "I was a flavor of the week last week by all the so-called leaders of the Democrat Socialist Party. Go after Coach, he said something bad about our voters of the future, and the Muslims are the voters of the future for the Democratic Party. I'm going to tell it like it is. I've done that since I've been here, and I'm not going to back off now."

https://1819news.com/news/item/meant-every-word-i-said-tuberville-fires-back-at-dems-angry-over-social-media-posts-critical-of-islam?utm_source=trending&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=trending_news