Despite its rather dull and dreary appearance, this Ford consul posted at the Cohort by Hannes (r0b0tr10t) grabbed me. Why? I had totally forgotten that there ever was a German Ford Consul, since that name was always associated with Ford UK middle-class cars. But here it is, a European Ford Custom 500 equivalent, a low-power (1.7 L 75hp), low-trim poor version of the European Ford Granada (no relation to the American Granada) that was offered in Germany for all of three year (1972-1975)s. It’s sitting here next to its predecessor, the Ford 17M. Well, that could be a 20M….but somebody likes these old German Ford two-door sedans.
Hannes said this is a 1.7 L 75 hp version, which almost undoubtedly means that these still had the Cologne V4 engine. I might have suspected that they’d switched to the more modern OHC inline four by then, but my memory of these cars is getting decidedly fuzzy. But what is clear is that these cars served the same kind of role that American low-line cars like the Biscayne, Custom and Fury I did: the biggest room for the buck. Which of course appealed mainly to working-class folks with kids. Just don’t expect it to drive like a BMW.
After its three-year run, the Consul name was dropped and a low-end version of the Granada took over its role. Right about the same time the Custom disappeared on the NA market. Name inflation strikes again.
Wow! We actually had one of these – My Dad bought it used in the 70’s when we were living in Germany and we had it for a couple of years, I was about 8 years old at the time. It met its demise when something happened to the engine on the Autobahn (my Dad was most likely at top speed) and the place it got towed to had a used Audi 100 for sale, which he then completed the journey in and we had for several more years.
Our Consul was the same brown color except it was a 4door. We also had supplemental 8″ round halogen driving lights mounted in the front bumper to light up the Autobahn when we traveled at night (frequent trips to my British Grandparents across the channel)
Iris’ (in)famous Sauerkraut Hot Dogs are REALLY hot given the condition of the roof.
Two MAN truckies like them.
That truck garage only recently burned down, it was still intact last time I was there.
On a brighter note, the yard there is actually full of CCs: Citroen XM, Golf Mk I Convertible, Fiat Uno and a BMW E30 all in one place.
Where I drive concrete mixers from has a shingle crusher next door they use MAN trucks a 6 and a 8 wheeler to deliver aggregate to the concrete plant older models than those.
There a 2 recent MAN models pictured in this CC, so this is not off-topic.
MAN is one of those old and very renowned Kings of Off-Road.
(Like Steyr, Tatra, Unimog, Magirus Deutz and Mercedes-Benz)
But of course they also make excellent on-road trucks.
I remember their former top model with a huge V10 diesel.
Didn`t MAN actually buy Steyr a couple years back? At least the few Steyrs I see every now and then now all sport MAN cabs.
Yes, Steyr Trucks is owned by MAN.
MAN also bought truckmaker ERF from the UK.
You probably like this MAN concrete mixer (49 metric tonnes GVW)
Source: http://www.truckstar.nl/nieuws/detail/man-49-tons-betonmixer/
I always had a giggle when I ever saw MAN trucks. But still have a belly laugh when I spy a UNIC truck. So macho the transport business in Europe.
A straight truck that weighs 108,000 lbs.
Suppose it would say BARBIE on the grille….
MAN = Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg
We should have had the UK Consul/Granada twins here when the Zephyr Zodiac twins ceased production but the MK4 Zcar was so bad and hard to sell in the end we got Falcons instead,probably a good thing. The dark brown one seems to have a MK3 Cortina bonnet.
I never knew or heard of this before,thanks Paul.My Dad had a 4 door Granada but in the same shade of barker’s egg brown as the other car.There was a very nice fastback coupe made for a couple of year,the other car I think is a Taunus which shared many parts with the Cortina,my sister went out with a soldier who had a Taunus wagon.
The one next to it is a 17M indeed, closer photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robotriot/8699340598/in/set-72157621930492427
Both cars are up for sale actually. The Consul was last running in 1996, so I guess there’s a lot of work to be done to get it roadworthy again.
These Fords, the later square model Granada and its successor the Scorpio were once the Royal Cars here. All of them were dark blue. This Granada Mk1 is literally and truly a Ford Granada Ghia Royale.
The last one left according to http://www.carcastingholland.com/voertuigen/ford-granada-2
In the UK these were better known as the car driven by The Sweeney(Sweeney Todd = Flying Squad in cockney rhyming slang) an excellent 70s TV cop show.
Hah! I never knew that’s where ‘The Sweeney’ came from. Tom Hanks for that Gem 🙂
Thanks china,
Ford had also in Europe the Cortina MKIII 2-door sedan (or saloon as it was known in the UK and the Cortina MKIII was based on the German Taunus). I saw some nice pics of these 2-door sedans unless there was 2-door coupe with some “coke-bottle” design influence. http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/front_website/octane_interact/carspecs.php/?see=3395
http://www.simoncars.co.uk/ford/cortina3.html
I wonder if the 2-door Cortina MKIII played the same role as the 2-door Consul?
I never even knew that these existed in a 2 door.
Most Americans who don’t read German probably mostly heard of the UK versions, which didn’t include any two-door sedans and very few fastback coupes.
They did a 2 door version of its successor too:
I had a nice gold Mk2 4 door with a 2.8 V6
Very handsome cars the Mk 2 Granada. Never got them new here of course, with the Falcon filling that spot in Ford’s lineup. I’ve seen three privately imported Mk 2s though, one grey Ghia sedan, one white bottom-of-the-line sedan, and one glorious gold 2 door Ghia (here since near new and RHD too, so who knows where that came from!). Someone was selling a burgundy ’79ish Mk 2 GL here too recently, just the 2L Pinto, but nice looking all the same. A Mk 2 2.8 Ghia X (in black, naturally) would be a fine car for my bucket list collection!
Comparatively speaking, that pair’s a little like Cinderella and one of her stepsisters. The one on the left isn’t half bad. The one on the right, well,…
If the engine is really the V-4, then somebody order up an engine swap – STAT!
I agree- the v4 was a rough and nasty old beast, with a bad habit of munching its timing gears, which were plastic/fibre. Strangely, Saab had good luck with this engine- probably because the smaller displacement they used didn’t vibrate like a high-rise in an earthquake. The later Pinto engine was much better.
I understand the appeal of a ‘big’ cheap car in the US, but I just can’t imagine who would have purchased such a thing, especially in 2 door form, in Europe. Even before the fuel crisis, petrol was still very expensive, and even the strippo basic Consuls cost the same as a nice mid-sized car.
There was a time when ALL European automakers had an “executive” top model, a 6 cylinder engine in the 3.0 liter class was often the biggest engine. The big Opels in the seventies were even available with a Chevrolet 327.
A few examples: the Peugeot 604, the Renault 30 and more recently the Alfa Romeo 164 and
Citroën C6.
But for now this class has been completely taken over by the German brands.
Not a bad looking ride. I wonder if a Coyote would fit under its hood, er, bonnet… hmmm.