I’ll have you know that a 1976 Ford Granada, Ghia or not, is not exactly my cup of tea (at least the domestic version, the Euro one I love). Nevertheless, I couldn’t let a top spec car like this just get crushed without giving it one last day in the sun and hopefully be able to muster up some enthusiasm for it. Also, it reminded me of Key Lime Pie, which I love, so I was drawn to it somehow anyway and that’s as good a start as I can hope for.
We seem to have covered the Granada more than several times here at CC, so everyone is likely familiar with it in general, if not use the little search box at the top right and type in Granada, everything will pop up. Debuting for 1975, this one is from the following year, so someone took the age-old advice of not ordering a first-year model to heart and waited for America’s BiCentennial year to buy it, although not in the ever-popular red, white, and/or blue that seemingly everything was that year. Still, waiting for that second year of production seems to have paid off as the car lasted 44 years. Or it’s just been behind the shed for a couple of dozen, who knows.
The Ghia, being the top of the line, got a buyer a few more niceties standard such as a hood ornament (gone already), tape stripe, vinyl bodyside moldings, and a few other things.
While lesser Granadas were offered with a feeble 200 c.i. inline 6 as standard (except in California), the Ghia selection automatically bumped a buyer up to the still sort of feeble 250 c.i. inline 6. You could also opt for a 302 or 351 V-8 if so inclined. I was surprised to note that the standard transmission on a Ghia was a 3-speed manual, however this car is equipped with an automatic with a column shifter although a console version was available as well.
If you want to get more up close and personal with this fire-breathing monster of an engine, here you go. Lots of hoses and tubes here, courtesy of the EPA no doubt, starting (pretty successfully, actually) to clean up the air. Of course that was all at the expense of drivability in those early years.
Ghia emblems and various crests galore covered this car, nowadays we are seeing this sort of thing again but inside the headlight and taillight housings rather than embossed on the outside of the lens. Your neighbor’s three-year-old knows you’ve arrived when he’s at eyeball level with your crest-encrusted turn signal lens. This here is the Ford family’s “heraldic” crest which is seen in several place. The hood ornament had a crest specifically for “Granada” as well and the fact that its a Ghia added yet another to the mix.
This one’s been a local for a long time judging by the remaining dirt from under the dealer tag. Ghent Ford of Fort Collins isn’t around anymore, it’s a different dealer’s name now, but Ghent made the switch to Chevy and still sells those a few towns over, actually in the same town where this junkyard is located.
The trunk lid wouldn’t latch or stay down for me, so you can’t admire the clean rear styling with it closed. Sorry. But you can still admire the Light Green paint (yes, Green, although it looks more yellow-ish now, that’s OK though, I like Lemon Meringue just as much as Key Lime Pie). The big bumpers don’t even bother me here, I suppose first since there never was a small one and also the big slab o’ chrome kind of works with the rest of the bling.
Since it’s open anyway, might as well take a peek inside, not too much going on in here really besides the carpet sort of folded over and the right turn signal trim. I can’t figure out what’s with the area that it was mounted to, perhaps this car was in an accident and part of the rear was replaced and then painted after the tail light was replaced? Odd that it’s a brown color under the edge of it, it should be body color. The fuel filler is under the center panel where the Granada script used to be.
It appears that these are the Corinthian Vinyl (yes Ford had a Corinthian Vinyl, I guess Chrysler scooped up all of the real thing) bucket seats in White, which seems a bit odd that the buyer didn’t get a center console to go between them. Why not just get the bench seat instead then? This one has the $5.99 ($1.79 in 1976 most likely) Walmart cupholder tray on the center hump which works just as well. Power windows, cruise control, lots of goodies.
I was at first baffled by what appeared to be a very 2000’s smoked gray wood package and then figured maybe it’s the Wizard of Oz edition or something but for some reason the plastic wood seems to have died off and weathered like driftwood. But only on the left side of the car. And not in the speedometer itself. Odd, have not seen this before.
76,596 miles but who knows how many times that’s gone around. It seems like this would be a fairly frightening car to try to get up to anywhere near maxing out the speedo at 120mph, although I doubt it could achieve that except maybe on the run from the 11,000 foot Eisenhower Tunnel back down into Denver. Braking from those speeds in this car might be a little hairy, however according to the brochure it was possible to spec four wheel disc brakes as an option on a Granada which surprised me as well. Maybe it is just like a Mercedes after all…
Another crest (a Ford one again), this time on the pleated door panel. There are more crests on the D-pillars and a couple of other places, although they were missing in most places.
And here’s the real Ghia crest which looks better to me, perhaps just due to the design or that it’s older. It all reeks of Iacocca though with the badging and tuftery going on here but thankfully no vinyl roof. That Granada nameplate in the above panel could be replaced by a clock if one was so inclined, presumably so the passenger could count the minutes until his or her ride was over.
The backseat looks comfy if a bit short of bottom cushion length. The first thing that came to mind upon seeing this was the scene towards the beginning in Pulp Fiction, whereafter the whole area was reupholstered in blankets…Weird how these memories just pop up sometimes but there it is. Anyway, white interiors seem like just as bad of a long term idea now as back then.
Built in Wayne, Michigan (the W in the VIN) and ordered in the Denver region (that’s the 76 code at the bottom right, DSO stands for District Sales Office), color code 47 is Light Green, Trim CW is Corinthian vinyl buckets in White, W is a C4 3-speed automatic, and the 6 for the axle denotes a 3.00 rear. The 54K body code is for the 4-door Ghia models (both Ford and Mercury Monarch).
For the 1976 model year, a total of 694,607 Granadas and sister Mercury Monarchs were built of which 52,457 were Granada Ghia 4-door models. This starts to put into perspective why Ford canned the Fusion, the freaking ’76 Granada outsold it 3:1. Jeez.
Well, I think I’ve done enough to give this Granada a decent send-off. I don’t know that this thing ever really did light my fire but I have become hungry enough to head to the fridge in search of some pie…
Great find, Jim. Top of the line model, but you still get a knockout plate instead of a clock. I guess that’s how it was with a la carte option ordering back then. Moving to packages maybe wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Shortening the rear seat cushion to make it look like there is more rear seat legroom is also one of the oldest tricks in the book.
This is perhaps one of Ford’s better (short-lived) ideas. The Granada did fizzle out pretty fast.
Somewhere at some point I remember reading about the rear-disc brake option on these. It seems they are highly prized finds as they are a bolt on upgrade for an early Mustang.
Interestingly, with this Granada you got a hankering for pie. It gave me a hankering to bathe. There is a certain “ick” factor in play with this Granada, on several levels.
The Lincoln Versailles came with a disc brake setup at the rear standard. Any Versailles that ends up in a yard usually loses the entire rear in the proverbial New York Minute.
The logo on the turn signals and door panels is the then-current version of the Ford family “heraldic crest,” invented for the 1950 models. The three lions are supposed to symbolize HF2, Benson and Wm Clay Ford. The “Granada crest” was only used as the hood ornament and it looked like a bit like a pinched “I” in a vertical rectangle.
Wow, I sound pathetic.
No, you don’t sound pathetic. I actually Googled the same thing before I got to your comment.
Or maybe we’re both pathetic… 🙂
Thank you, I modified the text, I wasn’t willing to honor that particular crest by spending time trawling the internet to get a definitive answer the other evening…
I have a small amount of fondness for Granadas, because way back in the mid-1980s (when I was about 12 years old), my mom rented one from Rent-a-Wreck while her Subaru was in the shop. As a 12-year-old, I was mighty impressed by things like crests, fake burled wood, and tufty upholstery – my boring parents would never buy a car with any of that stuff, so I felt utterly deprived. But for several days, courtesy of Rent-a-Wreck, I got to enjoy such indulgences. Thanks, Mr. Iacocca!
This is a great example of its kind, but the Key Lime / White color combination would seemingly be more at home in Fort Myers rather than Fort Collins. This isn’t the type of vehicle that immediately comes to mind when I think of a “Colorado car.”
I could have told the first buyer not to order a loaded Ghia with the 250. That engine was intended for stripped models. That thing must have been pathetic. A 302 was bad enough.
Re the clock..in 75 it was standard in Ghia,
Must have been decontented out the next year.
If it was pathetic with the 250 cid six, it must’ve been downright wretched with the standard 200.
Remember that during this era GM offered V-6s in pre-downsized Buick LeSabres and 260 V-8s in Colonnade Oldsmobile Cutlasses. “Downright wretched” performance wasn’t limited to the Granada and Monarch during 1975-76.
But the Nova also offered (standard) a 250 I-6 that offered 105hp as compared to the Granada 250’s 87hp, up from the 70 it had in 1975.
Didn’t Chevrolet offer a four cylinder Nova ’round about 1975? I think I remember a coworker having one. It was a manual trans. Four or five speed?
Not in ’75, entry level was the 250 I-6. 3 speed or 4speed manual. At least according to the brochure:
https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/brochuredisplay.cgi?year=1975&manuf=GM&model=Nova&smod=&page=13&scan=13
And be sure to check out page 2 of that brochure, the dude in the picture looks EXACTLY like Wooderson from Dazed and Confused….
Perhaps you are thinking of the 1985 Nova (the Corolla?) That one was a 4cylinder with a 5speed! 🙂
I was thinking of the rear wheel drive ’77-79 Phoenix, Pontiac’s version of the Nova. It was was available with a 151 in³ Iron Duke/ five speed manual:
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/1977%20Pontiac/1977%20Pontiac%20Full%20Line%20Brochure/image26.html
I see now where it was in the Phoenix (the 4cylinder, thank you for providing the link) but not with a 5-speed manual. That brochure says it was a five main bearing engine, it doesn’t mention the transmission.
The manual was a 4-speed, and after the Phoenix name was kept for the new X-body (i.e. Citation), it also remained as a 4-speed without a 5-speed available as far as I can see.
You’re right, JIm. I was looking at the Ventura page (26 of 35):
“or 5-speed manual floorshift (2.5 litre four only)…”
In fact I don’t see the Phoenix at all in that brochure. Was it a mid-year switch, changing the name from Ventura to Phoenix? I don’t recall, I just remember a coworker having a Nova or rebadged Nova with a four cylinder/five speed right around then. Wikipedia:
“One unique feature for 1976 was the availability of a 5-speed manual transmission (Borg Warner T-50) with the 260 cubic inch V8; it was the standard transmission with the Iron Duke. Under 700 units total with this combination were built in 1976.”
That Ventura must have been a dog with the Iron Duke. The 260 V8 with a five speed though would have been a different story.
Wow, wild.
Here’s the brochure for the 77 Phoenix, it lists the engine but not the 5-speed. https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/77pf/bilder/3.jpg
Here’s the 77 Ventura where both engine and trans are listed but states the 5speed would be for the 2.5 only, and not available for any V8. https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/77pvt/bilder/4.jpg
Here’s the 76 Ventura brochure where it doesn’t list the Iron Duke but does show the 5speed as only available with the 260 V8. https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/76pv/bilder/6.jpg
That would seem to be the transmission to get for that engine, so odd to have offered it in the Pontiac and not the Chevy. Sales apparently reflected this 🙂
Odd (well, not so odd, really) that Wiki doesn’t even list it in the powertrain sidebar transmission section.
We rented one of these for my sisters wedding. It was a grey four door and it had a really nice interior but it was totally sucked out when it came to acceleration. Most likely it had the 200.
By this time, no one expected blazing performance from a compact Ford. These cars were bought primarily by people who wanted well-trimmed interiors with an overlay of exterior glitz in a reasonably sized car. For better or worse, Ford gave it to them.
I mentioned the V-6 LeSabre and 260 V-8 Cutlass Supreme because we did expect effortless – if not blazing – performance from GM’s intermediate and full-size cars. To me, those two cars represent the ultimate “malaise cars” because they didn’t offer what we had come to expect of them.
Consumer Reports tested a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan with the 260 V-6 and recorded a 0-60 mph time of 21 seconds. That was quite a comedown from the days of the Rocket V-8.
Our older neighbors bought a brand-new 1976 Buick LeSabre four-door sedan with the V-6. I still remember the rattling sound that engine made as they drove down our street. I thought, “THAT’S a Buick?!”
It does stick in my mind that GM did have a knack for getting better drivability from its engines during this era than AMC, Chrysler and Ford.
It’s a miracle the fuel filler door hasn’t fallen permanently open. Virtually all of the Granada/Monarch vehicles had a poorly attached spring which failed very quickly.
One of my first jobs was on a Ford parts counter in the mid-seventies, and I vividly remember those Granada fuel-filler doors having a high inventory due to the high number of replacement sales. Seems like every other day someone would come in needing one.
Interestingly, the lower trim Granadas got a round twist-off fuel filler cap reminiscent of the 1st generation Mustang cap. We rarely had a call for one of those.
You beat me to it – Jim used the wrong headline, which should have been “World’s Only 1976 Granada With Fuel Cap Cover Still Attached!”
Most of them had fallen off by 1978.
I suspect Ford knew about the problem since, rather than fixing the filler door with a stronger spring, they stopped having that declid trim piece color-keyed and, as in the feature car, went to a black trim piece, so it was a whole easier to stock replacements in parts inventories.
My Great Aunt and Uncle owned one of these and drove it from 1976 – 2000. These were nothing more than dependable cars with, what they thought were nice add-on’s to move them into the luxury car crowd. There car was quite dependable and got them from home to town in their latter years of driving.
Ahhh.. so much to say about the Granada/Monarch. When these debuted, all remember the fan fair and comparisons, but they did have a significant impact on all the US auto market.
The Granada changed the paradigm that “bigger is always better”. This allow GM to introduce the downsized B & C platform in 1997 and A platform in ’78 to great acceptance. Chrysler also introduced the F-body Aspen and Volaré to “initial” success which was salvaged via the M-body.
Build quality was no better or worse that most of Detroit. Coil springs on the rear and roll bars on both axles would have been deeply appreciated. However, Lee was a master of stretching existing platforms on a budget, so certain items were overlooked.
Let’s give the Granada/Monarch credit where credit is due.
spent a lot of time in these growing up. they were reliable, reasonably comfortable with good air conditioning. only real problem we had with ours was when the firestone 500 tires shredded. here’s the obligatory mercedes comparison:
Kind of telling that a clumsy clauseauesque detective would mix them up.
(and that impression is pure cringe)
Imagine buying a Granada and having your neighbor come over and say, “So, you’re no smarter than Inspector Clouseau?”.
The Granada receives a lot of grief on this site, but at the time it offered a lot of people what they wanted – a nicely trimmed car in a handy size at a reasonable price. The recycled Falcon platform is easier to swallow in retrospect with the knowledge that Ford had already started work on the modern Fox platform car by the time the Granada debuted.
The bugs had long been worked out of the major components. The main problems were related to the early emissions-control systems and hit-and-miss 1970s Detroit quality control, although I recall these as sporting better workmanship than their AMC, Chrysler and GM competition.
I think a lot of my negativity toward the Granada my whole life was knowing that there was an identically named car across the pond that was everything this was not, i.e. to my eyes cleanly styled and devoid of excess frippery, enough power, and competent handling at a reasonable price. And the US Ford is the restrained version of it with the Monarch supposedly the fancy one and eventually the Versailles on top of that…! Pic below of Euro Granada which was also available as a Ghia. If the US one had been named differently I may well have thought differently as well, or perhaps not, who knows.
Across town, the Nova and its various badge-engineered variants though were also much more restrained visually and while older, simply drove better. I’ve historically been more of a Ford fan than a GM one but this particular era has had me switching allegiances more and more over the last few years which I’ve been finding interesting. I know, the Granada did sell extremely well, at least in the beginning and undoubtedly lots of people got many good years of service out of them so no knock on those people, I’ve certainly had some cars that others look askance at as well.
Get your trousers on, you’re nicked!
The American Granada “looked like” Mercedes
The German Granada actually competed against Mercedes
Then there is the Australian Falcon (XD to XF) which looked like the German Granada but was actually almost exactly like the American Granada underneath.
The Ford Family of Fine Cars
I love that Granada, too. I remember visiting my German relatives in the summer of 1979 and riding in my grandfather’s mid-1970s Taunus. It was a nice car. The sad part is that by the time Ford finally did synchronize its European and North American offerings in the family sedan segment with the very good Fusion/Mondeo, Americans decided that they really wanted a truck or a crossover instead.
A 1960 Falcon with 5mph bumpers and Rube Goldberg emission controls? Maybe not as slow as a Falcon with a 144 six and Ford-O-Matic trans, but close. That’s pretty much the Granada. But it worked (nearly 700k sales in one year!).
The Granada was mediocre, at best. But for the malaise decade, there were far worse cars. At least the Granada ‘looked’ like a Mercedes.
Maybe not as slow as a Falcon with a 144 six and Ford-O-Matic trans, but close.
A ’75 with the 250 was tested at 23.3 seconds 0-60. I’m pretty sure even a ’60 Falcon with the 144 and automatic was faster.
Yeah the Granada was one of Ford’s greatest hits because it gave people what they wanted or didn’t know they wanted. It was supposed to replace the Maverick but the energy crisis changed that. Ford found out that the energy crisis brought full size and mid size buyers to the compact segment, that they brought their mid size and full size budgets and were happy to check the option boxes with that extra cash. So the true base model Granada was dropped from development, the Maverick continued on in that role and the Granada was positioned as the up market compact.
The same effect had the Cutlass rocketing to the top of the charts, so much so that it outstripped the supply of Rocket 350 engines.
I got stuck renting a Grenada (base?) upon arriving in frigid Elkhart, IN for a job interview one clear, frosty Saturday morn in early 1978. It was only a couple of weeks after the area had literally been buried by a blizzard. Snow removal and road maint. in Elkhart were not exactly up to the standards of my native Wisconsin, so that made driving this mediocre Ford slushbox even more “interesting”.
The car left a very vivid and lasting impression (depression?) of being a cringe worthy vehicle given it’s poor driving dynamics. That was even apparent at the rather slow pace I drove from the Elkhart airport east to the booming mousetropolis of Middlebury, IN. for the interview.
Cars like this certainly helped slash open the U.S. market to Japanese imports! Memorable yes; a future purchase? NO! DFO
I remember that blizzard (if it is the same one we had in the Northeast).
I was living just south of Burlington, Vt. with my parents (was still in college) and that’s the week I had to bum a ride from my Dad into Burlington for school while my ’74 Datsun 710 wouldn’t start as it was always parked outside. I have to say though that that was the only time it didn’t start for me…but I kept it up pretty well (required for cold weather climate) with tune ups (still had points) and got new battery for Christmas present, etc….since I was still a poor student, my Dad took mercy on me and got me one (and snow tires for the rear…didn’t know I should have all 4 snows, but probably couldn’t afford them anyhow).
Back to the Grenada, I drove a bit newer version (’77 and ’78 models) when I worked as a transporter for Hertz those respective summers. Hertz was big on Fords back then, but curiously I think I drove more LTDII than Granadas, even though I would think the Grenada would be more common as it was cheaper than the LTDII (and Thunderbird, which was also common rental back then). Interestingly I do remember a Pinto or two, not too common, but not one Maverick, for what reason I don’t know why…they did have 4 door Mavericks back then, but for some reason they weren’t in the fleet at our location. The Grenada was OK, it probably drove like a slug, but my Datsun was no speed demon either, so in comparison it probably didn’t seem unusual. I was probably one of the more careful (i.e. slower) transporters, and as a result probably ended up getting less than minimum wage, as our trips were fixed payment amounts, didn’t matter how long we took to drive them, but were based on minimum wage amount ($1.65/hr at the time). I remember one older guy who was a regular transporter telling me that I (as a young guy at the time, I’m probably close to the age he was 43 years ago now) that I shouldn’t plan to keep working as a transporter for long…I didn’t, but (besides the small pay) I’m glad I had that job back then as it satiated my car diet for awhile…I’ve only owned 5 cars in 46 years of driving, partly because I didn’t feel the need to try a bunch of different ones so much after my transporter job. The Grenada got me back and forth to my destination fine, and like a lifeguard let me plan my life away by giving me lots of time to think (we were alone 1/2 the time, the other half we were in a car with at least one other person taking us to where the car was located, usually more than one other person, so it was anything but quiet for that part of the trip)
In college I knew a guy with a completely stripped-out Granada coupe. I assume it had the 200 I-6, and it definitely had a 3-speed, Memories fade, but I’m pretty sure it was on the floor, not “on the tree”. Crank windows and no a/c. I don’t imagine Ford sold many that were optioned so low.
Yes all 3 speeds were floor shift. These cars had gone to cable shift for the auto trans column shift, so converting it to 3 on the tree would be difficult, if not impossible. Besides, the intended target buyers would not have any of that nonsense.
Towards the end of the 1st. gen. Granada’s run, there is a sporty version with blacked out trim that I thought actually looked good. Might have even been available with a 5 speed manual with the 250. What were those called?
Had a friend years ago that had a Granada with the 302. He named the car ‘Granada Bel Grande’ after his favorite tacos at Taco Bell…..
ESS. And no 5 speed. A 4 speed overdrive, which means a 3 speed with an overdrive gear. Didn’t make it any faster.
It was the ESS package (European Sports Sedan), also offered on the Pinto. Unfortunately no it didn’t get a 5sp, it only had 4 gears a 3+OD.
But a Toploader 4 speed bolts right in. 🙂
I knew several people with Granadas back then, but had the most contact with two in particular. My father had the almost-ultimate, a 76 Monarch Ghia with leather, alloy wheels and (most crucially) the 351. My best friend’s dad had a 76 Granada in low-ish trim with auto and air to go with the 200 cid 6 but not much more. That one was a not terribly delightful shade of naked-baby tan.
Both of them presented very nicely as new cars with thick carpet, quiet rides and solid door slams. The sin with these cars was the lackluster powertrains Ford was putting in about everything then and the way they aged poorly. This is a great example – I don’t remember seeing the white interior!
It amazes me that Falcon 6 with that 1 barrel log manifold lasted into the early 80s, Australia retooled the head to to use a separate 2bbl manifold and eventually a cross flow head in that time, you’d think in the midst of increasing efficiency and downsizing Ford would have done the same in the US, but nope, pure punishment to the bitter end of the passenger car I6
On the other hand, this Granada does remind me more of a proper Mercedes than that plastic thing featured yesterday 🤣
Sigh, what could have been. The development was already done, the head was in production in Australia, as time went by it was proven, but no. Must have been sheer Detroit-style “Not Invented Here” cantankerosity that made them stick with the 1960-style dribbler instead of the two-barrel Weber and proper manifold.
Always seemed weird to me, but made me glad I was Australian.
It doesn’t even seem like it would have been an effort without returns, V6s were the way forward with the switch to FWD obviously but Ford didn’t have any 6 cylinder front drivers until the 1986 Taurus, the Cologne V6 had limited supply that ended its availability in Fox platform vehicles and the scratch developed that essentially replaced the inline 3.8 V6 was troublesome and unnecessary until 1988 when it made its way into transverse applications. It’s not quite the same thing geographically as GM buying back the Buick V6 tooling from AMC, but Ford only would have needed casting dies/specifications for the head itself from Australia. There was a good ten year window after the first energy crisis a better I6 could have been utilized, and maybe beyond just like the Australian 6.
On a similar thought if not the Australian design it surprises me they didn’t make a six cylinder version of the HSC head, and use that in longitudinal applications like the LTD, Mustang, Thunderbird etc.
no one can put lipstick on a pig better than Ford – then and now
Ford was the master marketer of pedestrian ware – this near ultimate Falcon showed what Ford could do by putting marketing over substance better than anyone.
The Nova was a much better car and the Valiant/Dart were virtually indestructible – but the Granada sold better because of the hype
I remember reading somewhere that the Granada engine achieved the worst hp per cu in of displacement and that the Granada was the most underpowered domestic extant
that said, the Versailles was a bridge too fair, even for Ford
I remember reading somewhere that the Granada engine achieved the worst hp per cu in of displacement and that the Granada was the most underpowered domestic extant
You read it here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-vintage-review-1975-ford-granada-250-six-wins-the-most-malaise-car-ever-award-a-triumph-of-imitative-style-over-substance/
Yes sir,
Even the asthmatic Smog Era 302s ran like dog shit, and were even slower than uphill molasses.
Most 90s 4 cylinders would smoke them at a stoplight.
The Granada may have outsold it’s rival compacts, but not likely at their loss.
The Granada’s 2/3 scale LTD styling was not an accident. Ford saw a need for more upscale Ford cues in a smaller package, and just in the nick of time.
After 1972, Torino sales fell off a cliff, and the LTD took a sucker-punch in the aftermath of OPEC I. The Granada likely picked up a a lot of sales from Ford loyalists. The one in my family replaced a great aunt’s 1965 Ford Custom.
“no one can put lipstick on a pig better than Ford – then and now”
Thank you. You saved me a lot of typing.
Those Granolas were dreck.
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea back in the day to allow dealers and the public à la carte options.
“i’ll take the top trim without the obligatory vinyl top of the era, the bottom engine, power windows, buckets, and hold the console.”
No wonder this car held on so long, it gave everyone indigestion and nobody was willing to drive it!
This is a good car to feature after the much-maligned Mercedes on the last post. Suddenly new cars look fantastic; scoops, creases, angry eyes and all.
What a serious turd of a car, though in amazing condition for its age and about to be crushed. Except that interior. I feel like I have fleas/lice/ticks/scabies just looking at it. Icky blah!
That Colo junker looks to be the ‘kissin’ cousin’ of the ’75 Granada that got torched in the Coen Brothers’ film, “No Country For Old Men.”
The Granada made the luxury compact car market a reality. Before it showed up, the styling look and feel of the Granada was only available on a much larger and much heavier car. The first generation didn’t have a station wagon like other larger luxury cars, giving the Granada a bit of exclusivity.
The Granada was a formal looking car and its competition was still trying to look sporty. The Nova never looked formal, even as a Concourse. The Hornet tried to be too many things and formal was never a look it could pull off. The Valiant/Dart was known as a cheap second car, so luxury wasn’t believable. It was the Granada that set the standard for a formal looking compact car. We see the competition play catch up with the Granada years later.
The Granada was what Americans wanted when it arrived. The timing of the Granada was perfection and many people wanted luxury, but wanted it in a new smaller size. The Granada offered over a million people what they wanted in 1975 and 1976.
The worst part of the Granada was the engine. We all know why. It is surprising that Americans were willing to overlook this huge faults.
Looking at this reminds me of why growing up I dismissed the cars of the ’70s and preferred the ’50s. Look at all that tacky fake wood, the plastic fender trim grained to look like leather, the vaguely neo-classical boxy styling that ultimately says nothing. It looks like this car was designed by McDonald’s. Also the over-lean, timing-retarded, air-pumped, “you can’t adjust it” emission-choked engines that wouldn’t run right and the ugly 5-MPH bumpers. Not to pick on this car specifically; they were ALL like that!
In this period, there were a small number of (mostly) older people I knew who recognized this and held on to their rusty ’57 Chevy wagon, well-preserved ’58 Buick, or gray ’60 Comet sedan. They didn’t care about being up-to-date and wanted to keep driving something that was familiar, non-plasticky, and didn’t stall out all the time.
My dad went from a ’70 Opel GT to an ’81 Honda Civic (by ’81, a Honda was well-built and ran reliably and beautifully). My mom kept driving her ’62 Comet until buying an ’85 Volkswagen Quantum. So we [smartly] skipped the whole Malaise Era entirely!
(Actually, it would be kind of cool to tool around for a while in a light green ’76 Granada today, just for the stark visual contrast with all the anonymous SUVs and pickup trucks!)
I always appreciated the Granada/Monarch for being one of the first cars in North America to initiate the ‘standard’ size shifting from full-sized sedans to compact/mid-sized cars. For that reason, I consider it a seminal design. Even if it was essentially a mini LTD, selling faux European luxury.
I remember at the time, there were a few small details about the Granada that I liked. I found the exterior shoulder body side crease quite appealing and unique. It made the styling look more elegant and upscale. I also thought the overall interior design and materials vastly improved over most early 70s domestic interiors. The European style door grabs, and the bucket seat side bolsters (whether they were effective or not), were a nice deign touch. Virtually unseen on an American faux luxury car to that point. The ’73 Grand Am, and the Granada were the first small hints for me, that Detroit could build a more tasteful European-flavoured sedan. Even if it was just dressing.
I had a ’75, 4 door, 250 six and C4. My sister had a ’76 Monarch 2 door, black with red interior 302 and C4. With its Cragar S/S wheels and Radial T/As, it was one sharp looking rig. Powertrains on both cars were reliable as a anvil, but the build quality not so much… And yes the gas door on mine was long gone when I got it. Paid $500 for it from the original owner when it was a mere 7 years old. What does that tell you?
any body parts left??