Not too long ago, the Curbside Classic Cohort came together to say some kind words about some of the most maligned and disappointing Chrysler and AMC products of the past few decades, like the AMC Pacer and the Dodge Aspen. To paraphrase an advertising slogan, “When a better idea was built, sometimes it was Ford that built it.” While the following Fords mostly sold well, they get little respect from enthusiasts. But perhaps my fellow Curbsiders can think of one nice thing to say about each of them?
Ford sure got a lot of mileage out of its first American subcompact, the Pinto. Over 3 million units of this cute little car were produced over its lengthy 1970-80 production run. Never an exceptionally well-built or dynamic car, the Pinto sold on price and the Ford name. The vastly more entertaining European Capri was offered in Mercury showrooms, but Ford did offer a wider lineup of little horses: wagons, hatchbacks, V6 engines, Cruising Wagons, even a tonier Mercury version, the Bobcat.
Some Pinto componentry was used to create the most maligned Mustang in history, the 1974 Mustang II. Drastically downsized and initially not even offered with a V8, the Mustang II was a sales success in a country reeling from the oil crisis. However, its weak engine offerings, so-so handling and somewhat dorky styling means it is an often overlooked or ignored chapter in the history of pony cars. Still, these weren’t entirely without fault: a Capri or Camaro may have run rings around these in terms of handling and performance, but the Mustang II did have a plush interior and was quite economical.
Another extremely successful and likely quite profitable Ford during the 1970s was the Granada, which rode Ford’s tried-and-tested (tired-and-bested?) Falcon platform. Showing once again they had their finger on the pulse of the market, Ford’s new upscale compact offered elegant styling and a plush interior with trim dimensions. Underneath, it was nothing spectacular – the basic bones dated back to 1960, after all – but while a Chevy Nova handled better, the Granada (and its Mercury Monarch twin) had a much nicer interior.
Ford tried to squeeze as much out of the Falcon platform as possible. There was the aforementioned Granada, as well as the Mustang and Maverick. The most ambitious and least successful was the Lincoln Versailles, a thinly disguised Granada that even shared much of the lesser Ford’s sheetmetal and interior pieces. Targeting Cadillac’s much more convincing Seville and ambitiously priced higher than the flagship Lincoln Mark V, the Versailles’ plebeian roots were all too apparent. You did receive industry-first clearcoat paint and, most famously, rear disc brakes which were frequently ripped out of junkyard Versailles and used in old Mustangs. Lincoln’s first compact was ridiculously overpriced but it was certainly the nicest Granada money could buy…
Before Lincoln started reaching down, Ford was expanding upwards, not just in prestige but also in size. The 1972-76 Torino was Ford’s largest-ever intermediate, and Ford used the platform almost as much as it did the 1960 Falcon’s platform: Ford’s Ranchero, LTD II, Elite and ’77 Thunderbird, as well as Mercury’s Montego and ’74 Cougar all used the Torino platform. Like most 1970s Fords, the ’72 Torino was very much tuned for comfort (unless you opted for the upgraded suspension) and these were wallowing, plush, barge-like “mid-size” vehicles.
Our final Ford is the 1980 Thunderbird, the follow-up to the extraordinarily successful Torino-based 1977-79 model. Ford’s efforts at downsizing were poorly received compared to GM’s, and the blame can be levelled at the clumsy styling. Trying to use as many styling cues as its predecessor but on a much less grand scale, the ’80 Thunderbird (and related ’80 Cougar XR-7) just looked plain ugly, and performance wasn’t sparkling either thanks to detuned V8 engines and Thunderbird’s first six-cylinder. But interior styling was handsome and the new, smaller ‘Bird was certainly more wieldy and just as comfortable to drive.
Many of these Fords had fans in their time, but history hasn’t been too kind to them. Can you say something kind about them?
I always loved the Versailles the “Charlie Brown” of Lincoln! As well, I was young when the 1980 Thunderbird came out, and I loved its classic formal styling. I especially liked the 1982 “Heritage” edition and its clear hood ornament. Here is a picture from the brochure.
Granadas were very hard to kill….everyone I knew in college with one had “the road trip car” because they weren’t likely to break down, at least not expensively.
And the Versailles made my grandma a very happy woman, convinced that she had really made it. It was a fancy Granada, but she drove it with a twinkle in her eye until literally the day she died (she had gone to the post office, no doubt smirking at those in lesser vehicles.) The pretense was a rousing success in her case.
Funny how your grandma’s story reminds me of mine – she had a 1987 FWD Fleetwood d’Elegance – the small front wheel drive Caddy from the 80’s that was totally frowned upon by most press at the time, and even to this day they are ridiculed for being a GM deadly sin. She loved that car and drove it right up until the last day she couldn’t drive anymore, always with her head held up high.
My family has experience with some of these.
Dad bought a new ’75 Bobcat and loved it. It was his commuter car between Southern Indiana and Indy several times a week, and then my brother’s college car. Later it was the “extra” car in the family. Everyone loved it. Because of it, Dad owned two Pintos after that. He even searched Ford dealers after they were discontinued to find a leftover new one for his last one. All gave good service.
A buddy had a ’72 Pinto that we had the engine bored, added a cam, headers, and 4 barrel manifold and carb to. It was a ratty thing with an ill tempered engine after that. However, it embarrassed me in my 289 Mustang in a street race one evening.
My first new car was a ’75 Mustang II four banger four speed. It was a nice , plush little car. My biggest beef with it was problems with the AC. It was also a little cramped for a family vacation. I kept it 3 years and was not too sad to see it go.
When my kids started driving we bought a ’77 Mustang II for them to drive. It gave good service and also stood up well to 3 collisions. Only one was our girl’s fault. It lasted through 5 years of teenage drivers and was still running when we sold it.
Mom and Dad had a ’72 Torino and really liked it. It was kind of a whale to drive, but nice and comfortable. I had a ’73 Ranchero that drove a lot different, but then it had air shocks and fat tires. I loved that old beater.
When the Granada came out in ’75, Ford caught Chevy off guard again. While the Nova had been reworked for 1975, it was not it very convincing change from the ’68-’74. The Nova was cramped and generally sold as a penalty box.
The Granada was a mini-me LTD in styling with basic trim that was well above stripper level. Due to that, a lot of people were happy to down size to it, as well as load it up with options that were quite profitable for Ford. The Nova was an also ran in the compact class that became quite irrelevant by the time it’s short run ’79 finale was done. Chevy was stupid lucky that the rebooted Mopar compacts came with a poor quality reputation,, otherwise they would have been completely done in this segment by ’76.
My first crush in school went on to have a 1967 Camaro with automatic. This was 1978 and hers was the only 1960s version. I guess she got it because it was older–no one else had a 1960s car that I considered cool.
The second Girl of my precollege years, the PERFECT One, could wear a potato sack and make it a fashion statement. She was that pretty, and vivacious to boot. She drove the only Pinto hatchback I remember offhand (lime green) and she made a butt ugly car look good. After H.S. she upgraded (?) to a 1981 Monarch II two door. Silver with red interior, and brougham roof. It looked good on her, but then again, she made everything look good. I remember she kept the Monarch a long time …
My college backgammon buddy had his sister’s 1977 Granada 4DR the last two years at college (1981-2). He let me drive it while he was away on winter breaks, but I had to keep it at campus (I was a rare local kid at this private college). Compared to having my mom’s 1978 Chevette with the wheezy little I4, it was luxurious in comparison. Nice interior, like crushed velour. It was a definite upgrade from that big 1970 Chevy B-body he used to have.
The Mustang II couldn’t have been too bad, it scared GM enough to make them tool up a notchback Monza and Sunbird coupe 🙂 .
When you think about it, GM must have been kicking themselves for letting Ford steal the small, sporty car market TWICE in a decade’s timespan. In ’74, they were talking about cancelling the Camaro/Firebird while Ford was selling the Mustang II as fast as they could build ’em. It was like 1964 all over again. And the same guy did it to them, Iacocca, with the same simple formula. Take an economy car platform, wrap it in a long-hood-short-trunk sexy wrapper with a fun, youthful image. How hard is that, really?
Of course in the long run, GM held firm with the big F-bodies and ended up dominating what was left of the musclecar market all the way thru ’81. But I’ll bet Ford’s per unit profit on the Mustang II was pretty sweet given its humble Pinto underpinnings.
Parents had a ’72 2.0 stick Pinto with AC, am radio and deluxe decor as only options. Quick for the day, good looking in it’s gold paint as well. Noisy and skittish in the rain, reliable and trouble free. Friend had a ’74 Pinto 2.3 stick strippo, abused from day one (including off roading) and 10 years later and 120k hard miles, still ran great although just about every piece of the interior fell apart. Family member had ’75 Mustang II ghia V8, bought for $300.00 in the late ’80’s with blown head gaskets. A head surface and new gaskets and it ran for 4 years needing only tires in that time. The carb was crap and it struggled to get 15 MPG, but durable it was, though the paint and interior were also crap. Neighbor had a rusty (came from midwest) strippo ’75 Granada 6 cyl 4 speed stick they bought for $300.00 around ’82. Only needed clutch while they had it. Good looking car and didn’t look like a stripper, I don’t think it even had power steering. Never had any experience with the other cars mentioned in this article. These cars all sold well and were OK for the times.
Hmmmm…
’76 Mercury Monarch: A good friend’s parents had a white 4-door with 302 and red vinyl interior. It seemed pretty well screwed together. Peppy, quiet, comfortable and reliable. It seemed to fend off the tinworm slightly better than other early to mid ’70s Ford products.
1979-ish Pinto: One of the high school cheerleaders lent me her new 4-spd Pinto hatchback to pick up her younger brother from baseball practice. Torquey and more fun than my old man’s VW Beetles. (The Pinto, that is – unfortunately I didn’t get to gather any additional data on the cheerleader! 😉 )
I don’t think any of those cars are terrible–they were all new when I was a young lad and all cars ran terrible, got lousy fuel economy, had bad egonomics and overbloated styling–it was normal
The Pinto was never meant to set the automotive world on fire, the same way that a Dodge Dart or Mitsubishi Mirage isn’t meant to today. It was designed to be affordable, reliable transportation. Compared to the other options at the time (Unreliable Vegas, the nose-heavy Gremlin that was a nightmare in winter,…..) the Pinto was very good value for money. It did what it was supposed to very well.
My sister-in-law had a Pinto, probably a ’79 or ’80 model. It was the car I learned to drive stick on. It was brown, of course.
The Pinto was cramped and noisy, and the driver’s seat was uncomfortable for even a short trip. But the torquey 4 cyl made it almost fun to drive, and it was damned near indestructible. She got about 12 years of use out of that car.
Well, the silver Pinto crusing wagon has some great graphics…..
When I was a very small child I had 2 favorite cars. Anything by Mercedes and the Ford Pinto. I never had a ride in a Pinto until well into my 20’s when one evening on a blind date was my first chance. Blind dates are awkward and this one was no different. I told my date that I always like Ford Pinto’s when I was a small child and the response was an indignant “this is a Mercury Bobcat”. that’s all I remember about that date.
My uncle had a Pinto wagon that was converted into a pickup truck, It was metal flake maroon with a vinyl roof and Cragar wheels and a functional tailgate, tagged as a truck. He put a 302 in it by using a Mustang II K-frame, added headers and dual exhaust, and even had air conditioning. This was back in the 80s.
My parents sure did like their silver Mustang 2. It made it from Virginia to Arizona and back with zero problems.
The Bobcat is kind of cute for the era. You just can’t find cars with multicolored stripes anymore.
Multicoloured stripes are alive and thriving in the middle east and still look as ummmm er appealing?
-The Mustang II is rather good-looking from certain angles. Also, it kept the nameplate alive.
-The Pinto/Bobcat was available as a 2-door wagon, which is always a good thing in my book.
-The Granada was nicely styled, if not exciting. Pre-facelift anyway.
-The ’72 Gran Torino with the “mouth” grille is quite good-looking for a big ‘un. In fastback form, legitimately desirable. The later Gran Torinos could be made broughamtastic to a scarcely believable level.
-The Versailles. Sigh. It wasn’t ugly, and the interiors were probably nice.
-The ’80 Thunderbird has an interesting headlamp treatment. The chrome strips that wrapped over the hidden lamp panels reminded me of, if there are any Star Trek:TNG fans in the house, Geordi LaForge’s VISOR.
A nice thing to say? Ok: The Pinto, at least it didn’t look as bad as the 1980 Thunderbird… 😉
I have a thing for automotive “losers” so I have 2 Versailles and love the interiors and neo -classical looks.
Back in 1976 my employer car pool consisted of a Pinto Squire wagon and a Ford LTD. I preferred to drive the Pinto over the LTD.
Nice thing to say:
Mustang II—Came at the right time. Fresher in looks than the bloated 71-73’s. The ’74 Ghia combined the original Mustang lines with some more luxury. In hindsight I wonder how this car would have done if it looked the same but, was built on the Capri Frame and Capri Quality?