We’re going to continue our tour of Corey Behrens’ finds in Amsterdam. It may look mighty American in its styling, but comparing it to the Golf Polo next to it quickly dispels any further thought of it being the real thing. What we have here is a Ford Consul, which was the low-end variant of the European Ford Granada Mk 1. That was the first jointly-developed large car from Ford in Europe, replacing the British Zephyr and the German P-7.
And needless to say, the Granada and Consul had a decidedly American vibe to them. That would be the last time for that, as the successor, the 1977 Granada Mk II, had crisp and tight styling that any American Ford of the time could only hope to aspire to.
According to the license plate look-up, this is a Consul 1700. But the data from that search not only didn’t give the date of its manufacture or model year, it was also incorrect as to the numbers of cylinders, which it stated as being six. Not so: the Consul 1700 was powered by the 1699cc version of the Cologne V4, the same basic engine as also used in Saab V4s and previous German Fords going back to the 12M.
From this angle, the back half also has a decided Mustang II vibe. Maybe this would have made a better platform for that car; certainly its 107″ wheelbase would have solved the ridiculous overhangs of the MII due to its much too short 96″ wheelbase.
That version was never officially sold in the UK, though I do remember occasionally seeing them. We did get the revised version though, in Ghia trim.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/08be2f8efea473db1d4b0bde669cfc94/622e9ee05a101de9-e2/s1280x1920/0dce6a6164c73e6c5f0832ab13fc3153f26744d8.jpg
with the Essex 3 litre V6. Scary to think the Granada will be 50 years old next year though.
The Golf next to it, is a Polo (6n) 😉
Oops; of course!
Swapping a 4-cylinder for a 6-cylinder, at some point, means an official, individual inspection and a re-registration as a 6-cylinder car. That could be the case.
Year built and model year are not registered. The date (Jan. 14, 1974) is the date of first registration, which also happened to be a first registration by a Dutch owner.
We had one in Germany in the mid to later ’70’s, although it was the four door sedan version and not new at the time. My recollection is that it replaced an Audi 100 when that apparently expired spectacularly on the Autobahn in the middle of the night while my Dad was on a business trip. The next morning he found the Consul at wherever the Audi was towed to, bought it and continued his journey home. The Consul succumbed to rust around ’79 or so a couple of years later, and then was replaced by another Audi 100. The Consul was the same, or very similar, color to this one.
It’s like an alt-universe Maverick. Wonder how this would’ve done in the U S instead of the real Maverick. Or it could’ve been sold as a Comet; give Mercury some differentiation!
I was also going to say “Maverick”. It’s a nice looking small fastback. Great find!
I’m completely unfamiliar with these cars, so after seeing these pictures I looked up some more information about them. And like Corey and Joe said above, their styling really reminds me of Mavericks. Great to learn about a new car today!
Since this was never sold in the UK it seems fair to call it a German Ford, though I suppose by this time the earlier Taurus vs Cortina etc differentiation was pretty much over. But it’s interesting that Ford of Germany had a Consul as a pretty low end model, GM of Germany’s Diplomat was closer to top of the line, and our American AMC Ambassador never actually went into foreign service. Just goes to show that naming isn’t really logical.
Ford NZ didnt bother with these the MK4 Zephyr Zodiac range queered the pitch for large English Fords they were really bad cars so they went full on with the Australian Falcon range which had sold well thanks in part to the awful MK4.
Data from the Dutch Registration Office:
04-BE-01
Registered 14-01-1974
FORD Consul 1700
Passenger car
Coupé/sedan
5 Owners
Brown
Next MOT 06-05-2021
I am not so sure that I would call this a European Torino. To me, these always seemed much closer in ” spirit ” to a 68 Ford Galaxie 500XL fastback.
Interesting to see that whilst the Granada saloons and estates looked exactly the same (give or take the chrome), the earlier Consul Coupes had a different rear window line than the Granada Coupe, as seen in the UK although only in Ghia trim.
And park by feel, Amsterdam style – feel the low curb rail or feel the water flooding in……
I knew a guy who parked his MG BGT at the canal and it disappeared. He gave it up as stolen for the insurance company, years later the police contacted him to tell him they found his MGB, it was found when the canals were dredged .
The same thing happened recently with a red Ferrari Mondial