I locked my keys in the ignition once on a public car park, you could do that then! There was a main police station on edge of the park so I went in to see if they could give me a tip on how to get in. The desk sergeant said he had a Granada and that there were only six different keys. He gave me his key to try and it worked...True story.
As I was a kid my mother drove a Mazda 323 from the 80es. One day we were at the supermarket she locked the key in the trunk. I dunno how excactly, because this was before mobile phones, but we managed to message my father to come from work and bring us the second key. Meanwhile a friend of my mom joined us and as my dad arrived he had the idea we should try just for fun the key of her car, which was a VW Jetta iirc. The Mazda trunk opened with the Jetta key… 🙄
How did Ford keep that key design for SO Long, 1985 till the Mk3 Transit in 2013? they should've obviously seen the security risks and returned back to the conventional key design.
Yes a better time .. had a mk2 a lovely car. Should have kept it.. didn't make the same mistake again have had my mk3 mondeo titanium x a lovely car all the power that you need after 17 years and nearly one hundred thousand on the clock still starts on the button..
The 1994 Scorpio was designed under the very assertive but completely tasteless Executive Director Dave Turner. There were some very talented designers in both the Dunton UK and German, Merkenich (Koln) design studios and every single one of us thought it was completely the wrong way to go. Every time the designers tried to ‘deflate’ the big fat looking sections or develop more conventional light graphics they were curtailed by Dave directly. Dave was on assignment from the USA which was commonplace at that time and directly under him was another foreign service American, but much more euro savvy and stylish Ray Everts, who had also tried desperately to inject some taste into the car, but alas the Turner car reached production.
Too much American influence killed Ford in Europe, and in a way led to the demise of Ford Australia. You just have to look at US Ford products...a design free and taste free zone. Yuk!! So much potential....look how they RUINED the Mustang for years and turned it into a glorified saloon car, after the brilliant Lee Iacocca initial design. Ford US is a just a disaster.
FunnySimbaOne , привет , ищи живой кузов (не гнилой) и двиг рядный 2.0 L ( проблем с запчастями нет ) По ходовой и т.п. новые запчасти не проблема . Будет нужно - дам контакты .
The looks were the best part of the American Granada, it was just a warmed-over 1960 Falcon under the skin. The Chevy Nova was an objectively better car.
@BEST the actual reason FoMoCo isn’t bankrupt is because of the Taurus, if the Taurus had failed not even Ford Europe would be able to save Ford from going under due to how much money Ford had been loosing since the oil crisis.
Whats ironic is the 70s US Granada shown in this video was heavily based on the Mercedes 450SE design of the time, and was even directly compared to a Mercedes in the advertising.
Back in 1989 a work colleague of mine had a Mk1 Granada that I had the opportunity to drive a couple of times (I had a Jimny/LJ80 at the time) and it was an amazing car to drive. Now I own a MK4 Mondeo (2009) which, while being ostensibly the successor of the Cortina/Sierra line, definitely has way more in common (not least the size and driving feel) with the Granada.
Sure is. Top gear is a joke now, just a load of middle aged men loafing about trying to be funny. I watch auto mundial for new car news on itv4, again more about cars in a 25 min episode than a whole series of joke gear
Guys if theres nearly 70k views in one day and 13k subs, why not subscribe? Not gunna lie for a small channel or even a big channel the research that goes into these videos and the information it puts out is pretty impressive! Keep it up mate👍
I had Ford Scorpio 1991 2.0. Went close to 300k on it never visited mechanic. I changed brake pads, discs and oil myself and nothing else. Great comfortable car. Too bad Ford discontinued such great cars. I would never go BMW, Mercedes or Audi if I can have cheaper and good reliable car as Ford.
I proudly owned a 1979 V reg 2.8 ghia in oyster gold with brown vinyl roof from 1989 for 8 years , i restored it fully, l loved that car, drove beautifully too and reliable , wish i still had it, lots of great memories with that car 😁
So many thanks to Ford for involving Jaguar, leading ultimately to the 3.0 S type! I always look on this as the last Granada, down to the suspension and all the Ford-derived interior details and side flasher repeaters (ex-Mondeo!) I currently run a 2005 S-type with around 32k on the clock. I'm the second owner. The first lived in Japan = no road salt = very little corrosion. What a motor!
Korean Hyundai Ford Granada was really popular because it was used as the official car for ministerial level. Considering the time, 5000 units sold is a massive hit.
Thanks for the insight again. The Granada was never a favourite with the Traffic Police as it wasn't a patch on the Rover SDi 3500 Vitesse in terms of performance or carrying capability on the motorway, often relegated to the Inspectors runaround. The Lotus Carlton's we received totally mullered the later version. Even the stock 3 litre Carlton was a more pleasant drive and experience at pace. Goodbye Granada, Scorpio whatever you want to call it this month.
I remember riding in a mk2 and it was the first car I had experienced air con in! powerful too. For its day the Granada was a decent car. Great video loving these.
I had a Granada GXL Mk1 when I was 19. Beautiful car. When cars looked different from one another. Unlike modern day 'clones.' The mark 2 did not 'inspire' me much, and as for the 'Sierra-look-a-like' ? Forger it! Down hill from from the Mk 1 even if it did rust like buggery, the 'timing' drifting, and prone to blowing the 'core plugs' on the cylinder heads on the 3 litre V6.
The Ghia name was also used in Australia on Ford Falcons from the XD falcon ( which as a striking resemblance to the Mk2 Granada), to the Ford laser & Telstar (which we’re cosmetically redesigned Mazda 323 & 626 models respectively). The ford Altair looks like a stretched version of the Subaru vortex xt .
My dad always had Cortinas and Sierras with the occasional Capri. I loved the Mk2 2.8 Granada though - there’s a nicely preserved one near me actually. Great channel, thank you
@@Glamrockqueen I agree. Although it's been off the road for 5 years I got lots of smiles, waves and comments from people when I had my Mk3 Cortina out for a drive.
@@millomweb in my opinion cars are now much worse in what concerns to safety but i never crashed a car all my life but see others crashing and it´s not a sight to see even after years some images come back to my mind, but today if one crashes with most of the cars from comercial brands it´s certain death and when cars had bumpers and made of metal if at high speed the efect is similar but when talking about mercedes or bmw´s it ´s incredible how a front colision at 60 miles an hour or 100 km´s an hour the front part of the cars dissa pear but from the firewall to the back in a mercedes you see the dash one finger moved from the front window and in a bmw 2 or 3 fingers moved but all inside is ok just people a bit confused by the strong impact, but talking at the maximum speed of 40 or 50 km´s /hour most of new car seemed to be broken into litle pieces as the people inside you can´t even guess what was the car all made into litle pieces, as an example about 4 years ago i saw two citröen´s C2 ,this told by the emergency rescuers litle bit´s of flesh through out 50 meters of road and a sniker other was a girl i knew since i was 14 crashed into a truck not at high speed and she was with her mother both died they were going to celebrate her birthday with his father at the time working has an health minister of the country ,what makes me sick is the fact that i always see her driving good 2nd hand cars and for the first time i saw her in a new C2 ,that´s how new cars are improved in safety ,i don´t mention Volvo´s or Saab´s because i never saw one crash, i owned a 84 Volvo 740 if it´s really the model or 744 and a saab 9000 turbo and either than mercedes or bmw they were very safe while driving them the same can not say about some other brands , i think metal was better than plastic as a material used in new cars body and even damgerouse the all front part of the car but as some say´s money talks people listen safety is not 1st (wich i think it should) first ecomical reasons , regards
Dad had a Consul in 1972. Great car in old English white with red interior. I had just passed my test and felt fantastic when I was allowed to drive it or I could talk Dad into using my Anglia 105e. I know it’s probably uninteresting to you and I don’t know why I am writing this, they were wonderful times I guess.
It IS still a beautiful car (2019). I grew up with them in the streets. They were low on the hit-list then, for some reason. But they are pretty cool, I must say. I miss them.
They looked old and Soviet-like to my French eyes in the 1980's, compared to anything by BMW or even French cars. In fact, they simply looked American, and we were not used to that, and not ready for this kind of cars.
i know i say this a lot, but i can't thank you enough for always including our South African Specials in your videos! keeps me coming back for more just to hear that nod to our rich sporty car heritage in S.A. Thank you!
LOL !!! "Granada" has never meant "luxury" or "big car" in USA !!! It meant lowest priced mid sized car! Priced above it was the Mercury Monarch/Cougar versions and further above that the Lincoln Versailles 'luxury' version that everyone knew was still a Granada in the middle with different front and rear despite being highest priced Ford car... engines were 3.3L and 4.1L straight 6, 5.0L, and 5.8L V8s...
@@BuzzLOLOL in America it was a totally different car to the rest of the world, the same as how the Falcon was a compact in the states but a large family car in Australia and South Africa
@@FrndsCallMeDaz - Video and text starts off saying what Granada was in North America, which was far from true. Looks like Europe and USA Granada were similar after 1975 for a few years.
Ours wasn't on the road by the time I'd passed my test but I drove it on private land. It had a water problem in Scotland - boiled up and probably cracked a cylinder head as it used water after that.
NHK 295M wasn't a Granada it was the lower spec Consul as would be par for the time with British police cars. Top level engines suspension and brakes but poverty spec interiors.www.imcdb.org/v028751.html While we're at it Only Fools And Horses used a Reliant Regal Supervan III not a sodding Reliant Robin! nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/vehicle-collection/reliant-regal/
Ford bought Volvo because the Ford Motor Company wanted to build-up a Prestige Auto Group, know as PAG, it also acquired Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, but, unfortunately Ford management knew nothing of how to operate in the high end of the market, and failed totally, off-loading each company at a loss.
There is A tuning and styling company called Smoke'em garage around the corner from me that are recreating the Bazil Green Perana kit in Paarden Eiland Cape Town South Africa, So glad I am not the only South African on here anymore man ! Isn't this channel the best ?
@@BigCar2 ... Perana were like a low volume manufacturer of sorts. Their vehicles were Ford approved and sold through Ford dealerships. The cars of theirs which I'm aware of are V6 powered Mk II Cortinas, V8 Capris and the V8 Granada Coupes.
@kevin paul halliday .. The only "XR8" which I'm aware of are the Australian Ford Falcon XR8's. These were not "made" by Perana, or indeed in South Africa. They were made only in Australia. Obviously, a 5.0 litre or 5.4 litre V8 is always going to produce a lot more torque than a turbosupercharged four cylinder.
Back then Ford and Rover were as good as BMW/Audi. The problem was that both Britain and UK opened up their market places and the German and Japanese cars could out compete Native cars.
@Nigel Rowe That was not market forces. It was the UK government planning their economy. The US has done the exact same thing. It allowed Japanese cars into the market and then over regulated the US car industry to the point it could not compete. If it was real market forces those foreign manufacturers would not be able to out compete.
@ferkemall The Royale was the Vauxhall badged version of the Monza. I think it may have had the even more potent 3.0i unit in for the final year before being merged into the Opel badged Monza.
@@adamw2911 The Royale Coupé was the Vauxhall-badged version of the Monza, there was also the Royale saloon which was the rebadged version of the Senator. I once went on a trip to Skegness in one in the 90s, compared to my dad's Morris Ital it was like taking a ride in an alien spaceship.
Now I'm retired I love to watch those programmes. Not just Granada and Cortina Ghia's I've had, but the other cars that incidentally appeared in the show too.
I loved the Mk1 Granada and the coupe was in my opinion one of the most handsome cars to grace British roads. I certainly had opportunity to drive most of the range in the 70s when I was in the trade.
Carpocalypse? The original Mad Max film had that covered and then some... Max Rockatansky's mid-'70s Ford Falcon coupe aka the V8 Interceptor. A classic car from a classic Aussie film. Ditto for the other XA & XB Falcons (and the Holden Monaro that the Night Rider stole) involved in that immortal car chase at the beginning of the film. Memories... "I am the Night Rider! I'm a fuel-injected suicide machine! I'm a rocker, I'm a roller, I'm an out-of-controller!"
I had a Cortina, an Escort and a Capri. Was desperate to bag a Granada back in the day but by the mid nineties they were as rare as hens teeth. My cousin had two. The first one was the 2.3 Ghia "Sweeney" model. An absolute thing of beauty that drove like a limousine. Ford absolutely owned the 80s but let it slip. Real shame
The last version of the Scorpio is so good to drive, they handle well, they're supremely smooth and so comfortable, long drives were a pleasure even in traffic... Ok looks are quirky but at least it is unique.. loved my 2.9 Ultima.
Regarding the looks I don't think it was too shabby, at least it was on par with the Mercedes E-Class of the same era. I owned a 1996 Scorpio Estate up until 2016. It was a great car with the largest load area I have ever seen in a passenger car - 2.3 x 1.3 meters with the rear seats folded down. Needed to transport matresses, beer garden tables or 20 crates of beer? No problem - just open the rear hatch and in with the stuff. Needed a place to sleep after a party or concert? No problem - inflate your air matress, roll out your sleeping bag and ready was a comfy makeshift camper. My car also had a trailer hitch. With its 2.3 l, 147 hp in-line four-cylinder engine, it had no problem pulling a 1.7 tonne caravan across the Dolomites, no matter the incline. The only problem with the car was that it guzzled petrol like it was free - an average of 13.7 litres per 100 km (20.62 miles per gallon UK or 17.2 mpg US) in city traffic, which would be completely unthinkable today and would probably bankrupt me at the moment. But at the time it was great.
I was born in 1960 (UK) and the Granada was just the right price, secondhand - super cheap, for me to buy when I began driving. I had four Granadas; always either the 3.0 ltr GXL or the Ghia, and always automatic. Beautiful things to drive, super comfortable; I loved them. A couple of things gave a skint teenager reason to step back, a bit: The fuel economy could never be described as 'economy'; best you would ever get was 20 mpg. The suspension, which gave you a sublime ride when cruising, had a trick up its sleeve which was guaranteed to stain a heavy-footed teenager's underwear. If you gave it a boot-full along a bumpy, country, lane and hit one of the bigger bumps in the road surface it would start the whole car bouncing. If you were dumb enough not to back off, the bounce would just get bigger and bigger until the car pitched you into the ditch. If you went for the brakes, while it was bouncing, it would pitch you into the ditch. The only way out was to come off the throttle, completely, keep hold of that power steering and wait for it to slow down/ settle down. Sometimes it made no difference. A couple of times we had to drag friends from the ditch because they had been going so fast, at the time, the 'bounce' had thrown them ditch-ward, anyway. Would I have another, today, 2019, if I could afford to buy it? In an instant.
That was an interesting anecdote. The USA version was known for a false veneer of smoothness on good roads that fell to pieces once you hit a few potholes, with the suspension bottoming out loudly. But it was so floaty that no one would be conned into trying anything too daring with it; I don't think many of them ended up in ditches, at least not because of accidents.
Since 1993 I am owning a 1976 Ford Granada GL 2,3 Automatic 2-door sedan (Germany). This version was not available in the UK. Still a great pleasure to drive.
I bought a used Granada in the late 70s ( USA). I was young and realized after I bought that I didn't like the two doors ( rather than four). The engine detonated in the 2nd year. The odometer had less than 50,000 miles and I suspected years later when I knew better that it had probably been turned back.
Ford didn't produce the Perana model.. it was Basil Green Motors who made the Perana Granada using a choice of either the windsor V8 or the Essex V6. The cars were sold through the Basil Green dealers.. Basil Green turned several different ford models in to Perana cars.. using the Windsor V8.. the mk1 capri being one.. but he also made mk1 escorts, Cortina's and later mk3 escorts.. Ford SA was using the XR brand, again using a choice of both the Essex V6 and Ford V8..
The Mk1 & Mk2 Granada’s were definitely the best of the bunch produced by ford. Anything after 1995 looked cheap and nasty, even though the fuel economy got better. I suppose it all comes down to making the cars lighter, but they lost that feeling of quality. Then to cap it all off Ford Bought Jaguar. Who wants a big expensive ‘top end’ Ford when you can buy a Jaguar for the same money. They kind of killed off their own big car range by acquiring Jaguar ( and later Volvo) in one fell swoop, but maybe that was the plan all along so that they could compete with Mercedes & BMW. It’s a shame they didn’t get hold of SAAB instead of letting GM get hold of them & ruining them. SAAB might still be around today if Ford had taken them under their wing.
ford is not a good example of getting others brands and producing new models ,like they did in the 90´s for a few years with mazda ,the model that ford released for mazda in 96 or 7 makes the same model from mazda in 1990 look a car from the future or no ford as the finishings of 80´s mazda´s, i can´t remenber the model now but it was that sedan who had the lights similar to porshe 944 but with 4 doors but looking like a 2 doors a sportive sedan with high quality finishings wich ford never had those kind of good materials on it´s cars and i do have some fords since late 60´s to early 90´s,in my litle cheap bought colection of cars like ford granada mkI the sedan coupé and the fast back, ford escort mki gt and a rallye car escort mkII rs2000 not a 1800,also a cortina mkII gt the capri mkI and also a huge 70´s van taunus with a XL in red on the back couldn´t keep the cortina from the same year , i had not a place to store it , and bought them all cheap ,less than 500€ today ,i buy them when no one wants them ,regards
I think the Sweeney car was actually not a Granada, but a Consul GT 3.0. Good video. I did quite a lot of driving in a '74 Granada back in the day and dynamically and for comfort it was excellent.
I have had most of the Consul/ Granada's over the years, my favourite was a 1973 3 litre manual trans. "Sweeney" Consul GT, I just go fed up with having to chase MK2 Jags around the empty wastes of London's dockland until the villains drove into a stack of cardboard boxes, guv.
Certainly reminds me of hoping I could watch Reagan and Carter with my old school mates. When tv was worth watching. My Uncle had a mark 1 Capri with a vinyl roof at the time!
In Taiwan (where I was working at the time) it was the most popular large car in a limited market. It was the Cologne made 2.8 litre version. Fitted with only the Ford Laser air-con it was borderline in the sub-tropical climate, and was prone to scuttle leak (not ideal driving in a typhoon). Apart from those details it was one of the nicest cars I had - two tone blue it was a looker.
In Taiwan, Granada was equipped with 2.8 liter engine with rather spacious compartment to local family then. Granada's 2.8 liter engine enable the car to be chosen as the runaway option by local gangsters. The comfort inside makes Granada preferred over BMW.
In 1972 I ran a Consul GT (3 litre Essex engine manual change). I did some 36,000 really enjoyable miles on it and was sorry to see it go. In all I had 6 Mark ones. Strange that Ford never published an official workshop manual on it........as far as I know. Enjoyed the video. Bryan.
I remember my grandfather driving two Ford Taunus models over the years. His sister was more the sportive one (in her early 60's): she drove a Ford Capri for many years until the late 90's.
Us aussies wanted to export the Falcon overseas in the late 1980’s. Ford Australia even went to Ford America asking for money to actually do it. Unfortunately Ford Australia was also asking for money to design and build the next model at the same time. Ford USA told Ford Australia that they will only give enough funding for just one of those ideas and Ford Australia had to choose which one. Either design the EA Falcon or start exporting the now obsolete XF Falcon with just a minor facelift If they were lucky.
We always drove Ford when I was growing up in the 80's. Every mk of the Escort. Loved them. My friends family had a Granada. I loved it. To this day, I have never gotten over the Scorpio redesign in '94. It's been 30 years, and it's still the ugliest man made thing ever created. It still amazes me that Ford released it. Ford America killed a large part of Ford Europe right there.
High point of the range for me was the Mk2 2.8iS, what a lovely thing! Sadly countless Granadas were stolen for banger racing and it's still happening today.
If nobody wanted to buy them for restoration then just use them for bangers. Some year's ago classic car people were whining on about the banger drivers ,but one classic car had been repeatedly advertised for sale in classic car magazines etc at below market prices for nearly a year with nobody showing any interest in it so it was used for banger racing. And you guessed it some classic boy's were whining.
I was working at Ford Dagenham when it was introduced in 1972. They actually let us down tools to go and look at one displayed in the engine plant where we were knocking out Pinto lumps. After the truly awful billiard-table bonnet Mk IV Zephyrs it looked wonderful!
Excellent story, I had to watch it twice. I owned a 78 Granada here in America as my very first car. I would love to find an 88 Scorpio for restoration. I remember it primarily for its adjustable rear seat. Those were great cars, and the only reason why they didn't sell over here was because of the "NOT INVENTED HERE SYNDROME", that attitude is still prevalent with American car companies even today.
This was great! I had 2 Granadas over the years, not a car buff at all...the first was just a Granada 2.9 auto, got it for £50 from a friend, cost £200 to get through its MOT and had a good year and a half driving with her. After driving a Sierra for two years the Granada was so luxurious! I then bought a Scorpio 2.9 Auto for around £600, was the earlier model...nice boxy shape...really loved her and unfortunately the now ex Mrs talked me into chopping for a crappy Mondeo. My sister married an American airman back in the mid 80s and before they left for America they bought a Taurus....left hand drive Scorpio . Beautiful car but scared the living sheet out of me as I'd been in a bad crash and my sister picked me up in the Taurus and every time she went to overtake I was first in view of oncoming traffic, beautiful car as it was I didn't want to die!
I know it looks like a stretched Mondeo, but I have a soft spot for a late Scorpio estate with the 2.9l engine... Then again, I love all European mainstream brand big cars which are now gone (XM, Kappa, 605, Safrane and 1st gen Ómega)
I've had a few of the 24v BOA powered grannies awesome engine, better with a manual gearbox and chucked into a Sierra or Cortina but still good in the Granny. ;) I also had a really rare Mk2 2.8i Ghia S, 4 speed manual and LSD from the factory, that was quite a nice car.
if everyone would drive the same etc. the same etc. the word would be a pretty boring place the difference to the fun and something to talk/discuss about
Glad you had a soft spot for the Scorpio estate. There are a number of reasons why we designed and developed the Scorpio the way it is, but that's for another day ...
Ford's Europe presence will return will full glory in the EV age. Ford and Tesla are the only Automotive stocks in my portfolio. I am really happy with the level of enthusiasm for engineering and design I see coming from Ford these days. I think glorious days are ahead for FoMoCo!!!
In Germany the base model was named Consul, while the executive version was named Granada. My dad bought a Mk1 Consul 1.7 V4 with 51 hp, the size of the car and the automatic transmission transformed it into a comfortable wandering dune, hovering over rough roads and waved the passengers through corners. I would call it a rolling traffic obstruction. But the V4 engine was robust and reliable; the large gap in the engine compartment reminded us that the car was actually designed for a V6. The Consul came in 🍫 metallic brown, with a black vinyl top, popular in the 70s.
In Italy it was appreciated, the second serie expecially. Considered nothing special about mechanics (as at those times we had Alfetta, Giulietta with their transaxles and bialberos, Lancia Beta, 131), it was very appreciated the design of the second serie and the general balance quality/costs. A lot of them were sold, big sellers with Opel Rekord among the imported.
My Grandad always had Granadas, then got a Mk1 Scorpio in 1991. It was beautiful, had heated seats, leather interior, mobile phone cradle, electric windows and power steering! Apart from his, I only ever saw funeral homes use them as limos to escort hearses.
I owned a 1979 2.8 Ghia . Absolutely outstanding car , you could here the clock ticking at 100 mph which it achieved with ease , Dark metallic green with Tan vinyl roof (what happened to Vinyl roofs) it looked beautiful , wish I still had it , I only sold it because my then girlfriend said it was an old mans car . I bought a 323i , which I owned for exactly a month before I introduced it to a rather large tree , I was reduced to a Cortina after that . Excellent video , love this channel ...!!!!
Loved my Grannies,had a few over the years, they were cheap to buy. 2.8's being my favourite engine and everything in line as apposed to transverse as it is nowadays. Great to work on as well. I once bought a ghia x shell and took the engine and gearbox out of mine. A very cheap way of updating. Only probs with them was rot where the rear roof drains were. A pleasure to drive though..
...I remember the Ford Granada in the mid-late 1970's..I quite liked them, I think they were based on the Maverick platform, so a smallish-to-mid size car..I don't know of anybody who thought of them as "luxury driving", but they were fairly popular..when I first checked this channel out, I did not realize it was from a "European Standpoint", but it quickly became clear that it is..it is also very interesting..I did not realize so many car names..Granada, Capri, Escort, etc. were names that had already been used in Europe..a few of the actual European iterations of these cars, the Capri, for example, did get imported, but were generally considered cheap economy sedans that were bought by tightwads...I guess maybe Europeans were used to little cars with small engines, but I honestly didn't know a lot of these cars were European imports, I tended to think of European cars as Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen,Jaguar, Rolls Royce,Volvo, etc....it's interesting to see a different perspective like this..In have also taken note that Australians seem to have developed tastes in cars somewhat similar to Americans in many ways, although they tended to be a bit smaller, more what we would call "mid-size" cars..they seemed to favor RWD, also liked V8 engines, and developed some pretty hot inline-six engines as well.. :)
Thanks for an interesting video! Brings back memories from my V6 Granadas. :-) Just a comment regarding Scorpio's V6: it had a V6 from the start, first same 2.4 and 2.8 from Sierra and Granada, then 2.9 with catalytic converter in the late 80's. The 24 valve Cosworth version arrived late 1990.
A Ford Granada GL was my first car. Midnight blue. Automatic. That's all I've got, I'm afraid. Thanks for putting this on here. Excellent presentation.
The Granada MK2 was the inspiration for the brazilian Del Rey, that used the old platform from the Renault 12 and a variation of the Ventoux engine. The Mk1 coupe had an amazing body design, the favourite for me. Nice videos, thanks for sharing!
I had a 2.8i ghia was a fabulous car, sitting at lights you put your foot down the rear squatted the front lifted and off you went, it felt like you were driving a tank, had a 2cv rear end me once and wrote his car off,my damage was he had bent the lip on my exhaust.
Having been watching The Sweeny on Prime I can honestly say that Ford had car design licked in the seventies. Looking at the Granada Mk 1 and 2 now, it just shows what boring yawning inducing modern car designs have become. Most SUVs all look them same with slight differences. Really, there's only Jaguar that can still hack it. Good video.
Agree about ugly looking SUV's. My neighbour has just bought a new silver grey one. It's virtually identical to all the other ones in the neighbourhood. Looks like a tank and must be a nightmare to run, fuel and parking etc.
This is a good video but in my opinion way too little emphasis was given to mk2 model, which, I think, was the biggest seller and the model that defines "Granada" in most people's minds. The new Scorpio/Granada was just a "big Sierra" and never really got accepted by the masses (like mk1 and mk2 did).
I had two Mk2 Grandas, in the late 1980s, a 2.3 Automatic and a 2.8 manual. The 2.3 Auto was one of the most relaxing cars I’d ever driven, with seats like armchairs I’d motorway cruse for a 5hr journey and get out at the other end as fresh as when I started. The 2.8 was a beast. If you were too heavy with the throttle when turning at slow speed the rear wheels would spin up and he back end would overtake the front end. [oversteer into a spin] Quite a handful.
This brings back many memories of my first holiday job after school in which I drove to many industrial clients assisting my colleagues by checking and cleaning large magnet storage discs for their big computer systems (one PC of today has more capacity than a giant room of these towers) with a washing machine. As ridiculous as this job might sound, it gave me the opportunity to drive many miles in a VW T3 bus, a VW Passat and a Ford Granada model 2 Estate Wagon with a 2.3 litre-V6. It only had 114 horsepower and an automatic gearbox swallowed even more of these few horses. Despite feeling and sounding quite powerful, it really wasn't. Fuel consumption wasn't good either: Usually around 35 mpg, it dropped to 25 mpg if you drove fast on German Autobahns. But boy, was it a great cruiser! There was plenty of luggage space in this long and wide spaceship. The plush seats were comfy and the specs of the GL and Ghia-versions were luxurious. Climate control, sunroof, electric power windows, stereo system, metallic paint, wooden dashborad, alloy wheels etc. A great place to travel. I would love to drive one again.
I like the video as it exactly describes how Ford had successfully placed itself in the upper middle class in Germany and lost its market share thereafter. May father had a Mk1 with hardtop and 2,3 l engine. Ford wasn't the only major car manufacture which lost the battle in the upper middle class as we call it in Germany. There was Renault, Peugeot, Opel, Citroen, Fiat, Jaguar, Rover. The Japanese luxuries brands never tried at the time, later on they did but failed cause their dealer network was poor. If You want to be successfully in that market segment in Germany, you got to offer at least 3 things. Technology, an established brand reputation for decades and a competitive price. Amazing enough, Volkswagen had to acquire Audi (NSU) after a fierce battle with Mercedes on NSU, to get itself positioned in the segment successfully and it had cost them a fortune across the time. The only way to get that done was by innovation i.e the Quattro technology and fully galvanized bodies plus high end Diesel technology (direct ignition). Nowadays we see Stellantis the PSA/Chrysler/Fiat merger as a successful repositinig on the market and I do give a lot of credit to those managers, cause the European car market is one, where all sorts of weapons are used by the German prime manufacturers & Volkswagen, to keep competitors out. As a German, I have to conclude that this included & includes sabotage as well.......nowadays that might be less of an issue, cause the major common ,,Enemy'' comes from China for EU brands. Hope this adds some more background to your sound presentation, Thanks 👍
Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in EU :-( In Germany the Green party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on, by reducing petrol stations to only one station per city. :-(
My first Granada was a 10 year old 1979 Granada 2.8 Ghia Auto with 98000k on the clock. Wonderful, i did another relatively reliable 60k in it before the dreaded body rot got the better of me despite all my efforts with Waxoyle and used engine oil. More of a Limousine than a car and not being an egotistical petrol head its subtle grandeur and comfort suited me perfectly. I STILL think of it to this day. I always hankered after the later 2.8 I Ghia x Executive with leather seats and ALL the extras. Sadly it was never to be. My next was a 1984 MK 2 facelift 2.8 Ghia auto estate. Still nice but the quality of the internal trims, dash. T Shift and indicator stalks was now sadly lacking. I didnt keep it long as i was so disappointed with all this. Beautiful cars though even so.
First car I ever drove. A coupe that was my mates dads. We were 15 and took it out for a spin. All went well until his dad came back and the game was up. I had parked it the opposite way around.
My first drive too. I was nicked driving my dad's mkII at 15. The police piled 5 of us into the back of a Mini Metro jam sandwich. My dad wasn't happy when he had to ride his bicycle to the police station at 4:30 am on a Sunday morning. :)
my mom learned to drive in a 1975 Powder blue Ford Granada the LTD Crown Vic starting in 1978 was built on the same underpinnings the LTD Crown Vic/Crown Vic were used as police cruisers Boston for ex used the Crown Vic until 2020 even though the platform on which its based was phased out in 2011 several family members of mine were Boston police officers going back to the 1960s and my dad used to bring cruisers home sometimes when my younger brother and I were kids in the 90s when the top trim was LX
Back in the days I restored -73 4 door saloon 2,6 V6 Granada. Hell of a job welding all of the structural body components, urethane which was used those cars, was total nighmare. Did all the work by myself, exept final paint and clearcoat. I manage to do all those prepwork reasonable well, because car was painted with Standox Swarzblau and 4 layers of clearcoat. That color was black in shady days, but makes a great effects of blue and purple in sunlight and bright street lights. Sadly I sold it, it was a great car. Still searchin "cola bottle body" Granada/Consul Coupe easy projects, with reasonable price. Yep, I brobably find unicorn instead :-(
The American Granada was sort of a stop-gap measure to offer something that would appeal to their large-car buyers in a more reasonable size, so it makes sense that they put LTD styling cues on what was a Maverick (based on the 1960 Falcon) underneath. The Fairmont, which was probably under development by that time, would be the basis for their mid-sized American offerings through the first half of the 1980s, so the less-space-efficient Falcon-based Granada would soon be obsolete. It's hard to tell how things would have turned out if they had integrated the European Granada platform into their American lineup; they could have offered enlarged USA-built versions of it to fit the market conditions. But it would have been a gamble, since I'm sure its independent rear suspension would have made it more expensive to build than its domestic competitors, which turned out to be mostly RWD cars with solid rear axles. It would certainly have boosted the stodgy image Ford had in this market, but it would only have paid off if Americans valued the improved handling the car would have offered. By the 1977, Ford's offerings were such a confused hodgepodge of bloated cars with strange rooflines (eg. the LTD II and Thunderbird) that either Granada would be seen as one of their sanest offerings.
Also worth noting is that the American Granada and its Mercury Monarch sibling were very green cars as they usually biodegraded in just a few short years when exposed to road salt.
I had a German Ford Granada V6 2800ccm in the Eighties, but wasn't satisfied, above all about the cheap trim. It was elegant, good looking, but not at all competitive with Mercedes or BMW all in all. The engine wasn't bad with 160 HP, however I had a lot of problems with the automatic gear: I had to change tree of them (!) even before 100'000 km. In a short: a real desaster of a car! Even the electric driven windows fell apart...
I locked my keys in the ignition once on a public car park, you could do that then! There was a main police station on edge of the park so I went in to see if they could give me a tip on how to get in. The desk sergeant said he had a Granada and that there were only six different keys. He gave me his key to try and it worked...True story.
You coild do that on old SAABs also:)
As I was a kid my mother drove a Mazda 323 from the 80es. One day we were at the supermarket she locked the key in the trunk. I dunno how excactly, because this was before mobile phones, but we managed to message my father to come from work and bring us the second key. Meanwhile a friend of my mom joined us and as my dad arrived he had the idea we should try just for fun the key of her car, which was a VW Jetta iirc. The Mazda trunk opened with the Jetta key… 🙄
whoever is stealing your Granada probably needs it more than you.
How did Ford keep that key design for SO Long, 1985 till the Mk3 Transit in 2013? they should've obviously seen the security risks and returned back to the conventional key design.
Yes a better time .. had a mk2 a lovely car. Should have kept it.. didn't make the same mistake again have had my mk3 mondeo titanium x a lovely car all the power that you need after 17 years and nearly one hundred thousand on the clock still starts on the button..
The 1994 Scorpio was designed under the very assertive but completely tasteless Executive Director Dave Turner. There were some very talented designers in both the Dunton UK and German, Merkenich (Koln) design studios and every single one of us thought it was completely the wrong way to go. Every time the designers tried to ‘deflate’ the big fat looking sections or develop more conventional light graphics they were curtailed by Dave directly. Dave was on assignment from the USA which was commonplace at that time and directly under him was another foreign service American, but much more euro savvy and stylish Ray Everts, who had also tried desperately to inject some taste into the car, but alas the Turner car reached production.
Too much American influence killed Ford in Europe, and in a way led to the demise of Ford Australia. You just have to look at US Ford products...a design free and taste free zone. Yuk!! So much potential....look how they RUINED the Mustang for years and turned it into a glorified saloon car, after the brilliant Lee Iacocca initial design. Ford US is a just a disaster.
I'm still driving Ford Granada MK 2.2 estate 2,0 litre for every day in 2020 . It's best car ever !!! Hi from Ukraine !!!
every day at scorpio 98 , Odessa Ukraine:)
Андрей Рачинский , братан !!!! Я с Павлограда !
все эти машины в вашей ukraine осели, мне скорп 2 достался. И конечно с территорий бывшей Украине
Хочу покупать как первую машину)) на что посоветуешь обратить внимание? Привет из Киева)
FunnySimbaOne , привет , ищи живой кузов (не гнилой) и двиг рядный 2.0 L ( проблем с запчастями нет )
По ходовой и т.п. новые запчасти не проблема . Будет нужно - дам контакты .
It's bizarre how adding "American styling" made 70s Euro Fords look miles ahead of the competition while American Fords looked, well, naff.
The looks were the best part of the American Granada, it was just a warmed-over 1960 Falcon under the skin. The Chevy Nova was an objectively better car.
It’s best to forget every 1970’s American Ford or GM vehicle that wasn’t a muscle car. They are all just so ugly.
@@bsrbck The Zephyr wasn't a 70s car tho
@BEST the actual reason FoMoCo isn’t bankrupt is because of the Taurus, if the Taurus had failed not even Ford Europe would be able to save Ford from going under due to how much money Ford had been loosing since the oil crisis.
Whats ironic is the 70s US Granada shown in this video was heavily based on the Mercedes 450SE design of the time, and was even directly compared to a Mercedes in the advertising.
Back in 1989 a work colleague of mine had a Mk1 Granada that I had the opportunity to drive a couple of times (I had a Jimny/LJ80 at the time) and it was an amazing car to drive. Now I own a MK4 Mondeo (2009) which, while being ostensibly the successor of the Cortina/Sierra line, definitely has way more in common (not least the size and driving feel) with the Granada.
This is turning slowly and steady into one of the best car channels.
Rapidly. It’s taken over my television viewing.
Going from 0-60 like a Morris 1000
Sure is. Top gear is a joke now, just a load of middle aged men loafing about trying to be funny. I watch auto mundial for new car news on itv4, again more about cars in a 25 min episode than a whole series of joke gear
Agree
This series is like Donut Media's Up To Speed but for grown ups (no hate for UTS, I love James and I hope it will come back soon).
Guys if theres nearly 70k views in one day and 13k subs, why not subscribe? Not gunna lie for a small channel or even a big channel the research that goes into these videos and the information it puts out is pretty impressive! Keep it up mate👍
Done.
I had Ford Scorpio 1991 2.0. Went close to 300k on it never visited mechanic. I changed brake pads, discs and oil myself and nothing else. Great comfortable car. Too bad Ford discontinued such great cars. I would never go BMW, Mercedes or Audi if I can have cheaper and good reliable car as Ford.
"We're the Sweeney son, and we haven't had any dinner !"
Gov'ner.
Your nicked !!
Proper policing.Forcing people to sign confessions by planting evidence.
@@michaelscales5996 and a good old kicking if you started any of yer shite.
'Get yer trahsers on, yer nicked!"
I proudly owned a 1979 V reg 2.8 ghia in oyster gold with brown vinyl roof from 1989 for 8 years , i restored it fully, l loved that car, drove beautifully too and reliable , wish i still had it, lots of great memories with that car 😁
A neighbour in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 had that European V6 Granada GL with automatic transmission, that thing was beautiful and the sound was absolutely glorious
Yep had one in my younger day's it was a great car, never had power steering before then...
So many thanks to Ford for involving Jaguar, leading ultimately to the 3.0 S type! I always look on this as the last Granada, down to the suspension and all the Ford-derived interior details and side flasher repeaters (ex-Mondeo!) I currently run a 2005 S-type with around 32k on the clock. I'm the second owner. The first lived in Japan = no road salt = very little corrosion. What a motor!
Korean Hyundai Ford Granada was really popular because it was used as the official car for ministerial level. Considering the time, 5000 units sold is a massive hit.
Loved my Capri, loved my Cortina, loved my Sierra Estate, loved my Galaxy, and now love my Focus Estate.
Thanks for the insight again. The Granada was never a favourite with the Traffic Police as it wasn't a patch on the Rover SDi 3500 Vitesse in terms of performance or carrying capability on the motorway, often relegated to the Inspectors runaround. The Lotus Carlton's we received totally mullered the later version. Even the stock 3 litre Carlton was a more pleasant drive and experience at pace. Goodbye Granada, Scorpio whatever you want to call it this month.
I really miss when cars looked this good, another great video, keep them coming 🤗
I miss the chrome and when the Ghia cars stood out from the basic L and GL models.
Yeah even the Fiesta ghia was clearly special compared to the pop plus models during the 80s
I remember riding in a mk2 and it was the first car I had experienced air con in! powerful too. For its day the Granada was a decent car. Great video loving these.
I had a Granada GXL Mk1 when I was 19. Beautiful car. When cars looked different from one another. Unlike modern day 'clones.' The mark 2 did not 'inspire' me much, and as for the 'Sierra-look-a-like' ? Forger it! Down hill from from the Mk 1 even if it did rust like buggery, the 'timing' drifting, and prone to blowing the 'core plugs' on the cylinder heads on the 3 litre V6.
I had a 3 Ltr Ghia Coupe when i was in my early 20's When the lottery win comes in another one will be the first car i buy. Loved it and miss it
The Ghia name was also used in Australia on Ford Falcons from the XD falcon ( which as a striking resemblance to the Mk2 Granada), to the Ford laser & Telstar (which we’re cosmetically redesigned Mazda 323 & 626 models respectively). The ford Altair looks like a stretched version of the Subaru vortex xt .
My dad always had Cortinas and Sierras with the occasional Capri. I loved the Mk2 2.8 Granada though - there’s a nicely preserved one near me actually.
Great channel, thank you
The Capri was a lovely car the used to come in to the port of cork in the 80s just fell in love with them👍
Granada mark1 legend, they should have never abandoned that shape. All later model shapes are crap.
If Ford were to bring back the Mark 1 Granada and Mark 3 Cortina, I bet they would sell. I'd love one myself.
@@Glamrockqueen I agree. Although it's been off the road for 5 years I got lots of smiles, waves and comments from people when I had my Mk3 Cortina out for a drive.
They were really smart
Ditto Mk1 Escort..... but I guess none would meet EU road safety standards now !
@@millomweb in my opinion cars are now much worse in what concerns to safety but i never crashed a car all my life but see others crashing and it´s not a sight to see even after years some images come back to my mind, but today if one crashes with most of the cars from comercial brands it´s certain death and when cars had bumpers and made of metal if at high speed the efect is similar but when talking about mercedes or bmw´s it ´s incredible how a front colision at 60 miles an hour or 100 km´s an hour the front part of the cars dissa pear but from the firewall to the back in a mercedes you see the dash one finger moved from the front window and in a bmw 2 or 3 fingers moved but all inside is ok just people a bit confused by the strong impact, but talking at the maximum speed of 40 or 50 km´s /hour most of new car seemed to be broken into litle pieces as the people inside you can´t even guess what was the car all made into litle pieces, as an example about 4 years ago i saw two citröen´s C2 ,this told by the emergency rescuers litle bit´s of flesh through out 50 meters of road and a sniker other was a girl i knew since i was 14 crashed into a truck not at high speed and she was with her mother both died they were going to celebrate her birthday with his father at the time working has an health minister of the country ,what makes me sick is the fact that i always see her driving good 2nd hand cars and for the first time i saw her in a new C2 ,that´s how new cars are improved in safety ,i don´t mention Volvo´s or Saab´s because i never saw one crash, i owned a 84 Volvo 740 if it´s really the model or 744 and a saab 9000 turbo and either than mercedes or bmw they were very safe while driving them the same can not say about some other brands , i think metal was better than plastic as a material used in new cars body and even damgerouse the all front part of the car but as some say´s money talks people listen safety is not 1st (wich i think it should) first ecomical reasons , regards
Dad had a Consul in 1972. Great car in old English white with red interior. I had just passed my test and felt fantastic when I was allowed to drive it or I could talk Dad into using my Anglia 105e. I know it’s probably uninteresting to you and I don’t know why I am writing this, they were wonderful times I guess.
It IS still a beautiful car (2019). I grew up with them in the streets. They were low on the hit-list then, for some reason. But they are pretty cool, I must say. I miss them.
They looked old and Soviet-like to my French eyes in the 1980's, compared to anything by BMW or even French cars. In fact, they simply looked American, and we were not used to that, and not ready for this kind of cars.
In Australia the Ford Falcon of the late 1970's and early 1980's shared some front and rear styling elements with the Granada.
i know i say this a lot, but i can't thank you enough for always including our South African Specials in your videos! keeps me coming back for more just to hear that nod to our rich sporty car heritage in S.A. Thank you!
LOL !!! "Granada" has never meant "luxury" or "big car" in USA !!! It meant lowest priced mid sized car! Priced above it was the Mercury Monarch/Cougar versions and further above that the Lincoln Versailles 'luxury' version that everyone knew was still a Granada in the middle with different front and rear despite being highest priced Ford car... engines were 3.3L and 4.1L straight 6, 5.0L, and 5.8L V8s...
@@BuzzLOLOL in America it was a totally different car to the rest of the world, the same as how the Falcon was a compact in the states but a large family car in Australia and South Africa
@@FrndsCallMeDaz - Video and text starts off saying what Granada was in North America, which was far from true. Looks like Europe and USA Granada were similar after 1975 for a few years.
I miss the Granadas .... memories of the Sweeny and the professional... they were cool cars . Also had no idea that ford bought Volvo 😳🧱👍🏽
Ours wasn't on the road by the time I'd passed my test but I drove it on private land. It had a water problem in Scotland - boiled up and probably cracked a cylinder head as it used water after that.
pmailkeey 🧱👍🏽
NHK 295M wasn't a Granada it was the lower spec Consul as would be par for the time with British police cars. Top level engines suspension and brakes but poverty spec interiors.www.imcdb.org/v028751.html
While we're at it Only Fools And Horses used a Reliant Regal Supervan III not a sodding Reliant Robin! nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/vehicle-collection/reliant-regal/
Volvo is now a Chinese car.
BEWARE!
Ford bought Volvo because the Ford Motor Company wanted to build-up a Prestige Auto Group, know as PAG, it also acquired Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, but, unfortunately Ford management knew nothing of how to operate in the high end of the market, and failed totally, off-loading each company at a loss.
The South Africans strike again , we are all petrol heads , the Perana was a absolute beast
Yes - Ford of SA did some wonderfully mad things. I notice they also made a mad Escort!
In the '80s BMW SA did a 333i
There is A tuning and styling company called Smoke'em garage around the corner from me that are recreating the Bazil Green Perana kit in Paarden Eiland Cape Town South Africa, So glad I am not the only South African on here anymore man ! Isn't this channel the best ?
@@BigCar2 ...
Perana were like a low volume manufacturer of sorts. Their vehicles were Ford approved and sold through Ford dealerships.
The cars of theirs which I'm aware of are V6 powered Mk II Cortinas, V8 Capris and the V8 Granada Coupes.
@kevin paul halliday ..
The only "XR8" which I'm aware of are the Australian Ford Falcon XR8's.
These were not "made" by Perana, or indeed in South Africa. They were made only in Australia.
Obviously, a 5.0 litre or 5.4 litre V8 is always going to produce a lot more torque than a turbosupercharged four cylinder.
Back in the day when the Granada, the Rover SD1 or the Senator were the executive cars that most ordinary people aspired to own.
Back then Ford and Rover were as good as BMW/Audi. The problem was that both Britain and UK opened up their market places and the German and Japanese cars could out compete Native cars.
@Nigel Rowe
That was not market forces. It was the UK government planning their economy.
The US has done the exact same thing. It allowed Japanese cars into the market and then over regulated the US car industry to the point it could not compete.
If it was real market forces those foreign manufacturers would not be able to out compete.
@ferkemall The Royale was the Vauxhall badged version of the Monza. I think it may have had the even more potent 3.0i unit in for the final year before being merged into the Opel badged Monza.
@@bighands69 people preferred German luxury cars, and still do.
@@adamw2911 The Royale Coupé was the Vauxhall-badged version of the Monza, there was also the Royale saloon which was the rebadged version of the Senator. I once went on a trip to Skegness in one in the 90s, compared to my dad's Morris Ital it was like taking a ride in an alien spaceship.
Yes ,the Sweeney and Granadas , great memories.
Ford product placement was second to none.
I actually sat in the both cars from the sweeney as a teenager my mates dad worked for the production company as a stunt driver.
Now I'm retired I love to watch those programmes. Not just Granada and Cortina Ghia's I've had, but the other cars that incidentally appeared in the show too.
@@norfener And of course the MK2 Jags that were always getting wrote off in the car chases.
@HEY 4Q2
R$2000
Granadas finished in 1985 when the last mk2 rolled off the production line,everything after was a disappointing.
Having Wendy Craig's fancy man chauffeured around in one didn't do them much harm either.
Purely platonic though surely? Even though it was biting the leg right off her.
I loved the Mk1 Granada and the coupe was in my opinion one of the most handsome cars to grace British roads. I certainly had opportunity to drive most of the range in the 70s when I was in the trade.
Awesome model.
Cortina, Escort, Capri, Granada.
The four horsemen of the Carpocalypse.
i loved my mk2 escort
Granada wasn't a good car at all! Cheap allround
Carpocalypse? The original Mad Max film had that covered and then some... Max Rockatansky's mid-'70s Ford Falcon coupe aka the V8 Interceptor. A classic car from a classic Aussie film. Ditto for the other XA & XB Falcons (and the Holden Monaro that the Night Rider stole) involved in that immortal car chase at the beginning of the film. Memories...
"I am the Night Rider! I'm a fuel-injected suicide machine! I'm a rocker, I'm a roller, I'm an out-of-controller!"
I had a Cortina, an Escort and a Capri. Was desperate to bag a Granada back in the day but by the mid nineties they were as rare as hens teeth. My cousin had two. The first one was the 2.3 Ghia "Sweeney" model. An absolute thing of beauty that drove like a limousine. Ford absolutely owned the 80s but let it slip. Real shame
Excuse me, it was a 2.8 ghia
I had a metallic blue Granada Ghia coupe. Absolutely loved it. 3.0 lite V6 engine was awesome in its day.
Like riding on a magic carpet... 😎
The last version of the Scorpio is so good to drive, they handle well, they're supremely smooth and so comfortable, long drives were a pleasure even in traffic... Ok looks are quirky but at least it is unique.. loved my 2.9 Ultima.
Regarding the looks I don't think it was too shabby, at least it was on par with the Mercedes E-Class of the same era. I owned a 1996 Scorpio Estate up until 2016. It was a great car with the largest load area I have ever seen in a passenger car - 2.3 x 1.3 meters with the rear seats folded down. Needed to transport matresses, beer garden tables or 20 crates of beer? No problem - just open the rear hatch and in with the stuff. Needed a place to sleep after a party or concert? No problem - inflate your air matress, roll out your sleeping bag and ready was a comfy makeshift camper. My car also had a trailer hitch. With its 2.3 l, 147 hp in-line four-cylinder engine, it had no problem pulling a 1.7 tonne caravan across the Dolomites, no matter the incline. The only problem with the car was that it guzzled petrol like it was free - an average of 13.7 litres per 100 km (20.62 miles per gallon UK or 17.2 mpg US) in city traffic, which would be completely unthinkable today and would probably bankrupt me at the moment.
But at the time it was great.
I was born in 1960 (UK) and the Granada was just the right price, secondhand - super cheap, for me to buy when I began driving.
I had four Granadas; always either the 3.0 ltr GXL or the Ghia, and always automatic.
Beautiful things to drive, super comfortable; I loved them.
A couple of things gave a skint teenager reason to step back, a bit:
The fuel economy could never be described as 'economy'; best you would ever get was 20 mpg.
The suspension, which gave you a sublime ride when cruising, had a trick up its sleeve which was guaranteed to stain a heavy-footed teenager's underwear.
If you gave it a boot-full along a bumpy, country, lane and hit one of the bigger bumps in the road surface it would start the whole car bouncing.
If you were dumb enough not to back off, the bounce would just get bigger and bigger until the car pitched you into the ditch.
If you went for the brakes, while it was bouncing, it would pitch you into the ditch.
The only way out was to come off the throttle, completely, keep hold of that power steering and wait for it to slow down/ settle down.
Sometimes it made no difference.
A couple of times we had to drag friends from the ditch because they had been going so fast, at the time, the 'bounce' had thrown them ditch-ward, anyway.
Would I have another, today, 2019, if I could afford to buy it?
In an instant.
That was an interesting anecdote. The USA version was known for a false veneer of smoothness on good roads that fell to pieces once you hit a few potholes, with the suspension bottoming out loudly. But it was so floaty that no one would be conned into trying anything too daring with it; I don't think many of them ended up in ditches, at least not because of accidents.
We averaged 25 mpg just with average driving. That dropped to 16 with a 4-berth caravan on the back.
THAT never happened in the Sweeney police TV Series! Probably edited out.
Great video I've allways loved the Granada shame they ruined it like they did with all there cars mid 90s
Well there you go, that told us; eloquence personified.
@Bigg Papa you just need your eyes ripping out fukkin reject
Cosworth Shithouse ..you seen how much they are ?? No because you are a Shithouse
Since 1993 I am owning a 1976 Ford Granada GL 2,3 Automatic 2-door sedan (Germany). This version was not available in the UK. Still a great pleasure to drive.
My mum had a 2.9 V6 Scorpio when i was little. It was quite a beast.
I bought a used Granada in the late 70s ( USA). I was young and realized after I bought that I didn't like the two doors ( rather than four). The engine detonated in the 2nd year. The odometer had less than 50,000 miles and I suspected years later when I knew better that it had probably been turned back.
Didn't Fords odometers go zero instead of 100 000km or miles back then? So no turning back was needed, it was "automatic". :)
Ford didn't produce the Perana model.. it was Basil Green Motors who made the Perana Granada using a choice of either the windsor V8 or the Essex V6. The cars were sold through the Basil Green dealers.. Basil Green turned several different ford models in to Perana cars.. using the Windsor V8.. the mk1 capri being one.. but he also made mk1 escorts, Cortina's and later mk3 escorts.. Ford SA was using the XR brand, again using a choice of both the Essex V6 and Ford V8..
The Mk1 & Mk2 Granada’s were definitely the best of the bunch produced by ford.
Anything after 1995 looked cheap and nasty, even though the fuel economy got better.
I suppose it all comes down to making the cars lighter, but they lost that feeling of quality.
Then to cap it all off Ford Bought Jaguar.
Who wants a big expensive ‘top end’ Ford when you can buy a Jaguar for the same money.
They kind of killed off their own big car range by acquiring Jaguar ( and later Volvo) in one fell swoop, but maybe that was the plan all along so that they could compete with Mercedes & BMW.
It’s a shame they didn’t get hold of SAAB instead of letting GM get hold of them & ruining them.
SAAB might still be around today if Ford had taken them under their wing.
ford is not a good example of getting others brands and producing new models ,like they did in the 90´s for a few years with mazda ,the model that ford released for mazda in 96 or 7 makes the same model from mazda in 1990 look a car from the future or no ford as the finishings of 80´s mazda´s, i can´t remenber the model now but it was that sedan who had the lights similar to porshe 944 but with 4 doors but looking like a 2 doors a sportive sedan with high quality finishings wich ford never had those kind of good materials on it´s cars and i do have some fords since late 60´s to early 90´s,in my litle cheap bought colection of cars like ford granada mkI the sedan coupé and the fast back, ford escort mki gt and a rallye car escort mkII rs2000 not a 1800,also a cortina mkII gt the capri mkI and also a huge 70´s van taunus with a XL in red on the back couldn´t keep the cortina from the same year , i had not a place to store it , and bought them all cheap ,less than 500€ today ,i buy them when no one wants them ,regards
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I think the Sweeney car was actually not a Granada, but a Consul GT 3.0. Good video. I did quite a lot of driving in a '74 Granada back in the day and dynamically and for comfort it was excellent.
I have a 1985 zcorpio its great only do ne 35000 miles neil
I have had most of the Consul/ Granada's over the years, my favourite was a 1973 3 litre manual trans. "Sweeney" Consul GT, I just go fed up with having to chase MK2 Jags around the empty wastes of London's dockland until the villains drove into a stack of cardboard boxes, guv.
Certainly reminds me of hoping I could watch Reagan and Carter with my old school mates. When tv was worth watching. My Uncle had a mark 1 Capri with a vinyl roof at the time!
In Taiwan (where I was working at the time) it was the most popular large car in a limited market. It was the Cologne made 2.8 litre version. Fitted with only the Ford Laser air-con it was borderline in the sub-tropical climate, and was prone to scuttle leak (not ideal driving in a typhoon). Apart from those details it was one of the nicest cars I had - two tone blue it was a looker.
In Taiwan, Granada was equipped with 2.8 liter engine with rather spacious compartment to local family then. Granada's 2.8 liter engine enable the car to be chosen as the runaway option by local gangsters. The comfort inside makes Granada preferred over BMW.
In 1972 I ran a Consul GT (3 litre Essex engine manual change). I did some 36,000 really enjoyable miles on it and was sorry to see it go. In all I had 6 Mark ones. Strange that Ford never published an official workshop manual on it........as far as I know. Enjoyed the video.
Bryan.
My dad had a 1972 consul 3.0 GT in red , we called it the big red bird lol , great channel
I remember my grandfather driving two Ford Taunus models over the years. His sister was more the sportive one (in her early 60's): she drove a Ford Capri for many years until the late 90's.
I can tell you this much, the Falcon in Aussie land is something we would have loved to have here in the US what a beauty!!!
many of my cars were Ford Falcons,here in Aust.
UK too!
Us aussies wanted to export the Falcon overseas in the late 1980’s. Ford Australia even went to Ford America asking for money to actually do it. Unfortunately Ford Australia was also asking for money to design and build the next model at the same time. Ford USA told Ford Australia that they will only give enough funding for just one of those ideas and Ford Australia had to choose which one. Either design the EA Falcon or start exporting the now obsolete XF Falcon with just a minor facelift If they were lucky.
The Ford Barra motor fitted to the last of Aussie Falcons was an excellent motor for tuning. A rival of the Toyota 2JZ and the Nissan RB engines
We always drove Ford when I was growing up in the 80's. Every mk of the Escort. Loved them. My friends family had a Granada. I loved it. To this day, I have never gotten over the Scorpio redesign in '94. It's been 30 years, and it's still the ugliest man made thing ever created. It still amazes me that Ford released it. Ford America killed a large part of Ford Europe right there.
High point of the range for me was the Mk2 2.8iS, what a lovely thing! Sadly countless Granadas were stolen for banger racing and it's still happening today.
100% Agree :-)
If nobody wanted to buy them for restoration then just use them for bangers. Some year's ago classic car people were whining on about the banger drivers ,but one classic car had been repeatedly advertised for sale in classic car magazines etc at below market prices for nearly a year with nobody showing any interest in it so it was used for banger racing. And you guessed it some classic boy's were whining.
I still remember the day my Dad brought home a new wine colour Granada LS - I was only 7 but it was thee most exciting day of my short life to date
I'm a huge Ford fan. I'd love to see this car with a wide body kit and Turboed I4. Georgous. Euros got some great cars
The tragic thing; the Scorpio drove like a dream and was very well built.
I was working at Ford Dagenham when it was introduced in 1972. They actually let us down tools to go and look at one displayed in the engine plant where we were knocking out Pinto lumps. After the truly awful billiard-table bonnet Mk IV Zephyrs it looked wonderful!
🤣 I'm working in the Dagenham engine plant right now replying to your comment while turning out panther diesel engines
Who remembers the Ford Granada 2.8i Ghia X ? The essential car to own before you moved up in the world to a BMW 7 series or Mercedes S class.
@Ray look on the bright side at least you had the sense to get rid of it !
Excellent story, I had to watch it twice. I owned a 78 Granada here in America as my very first car. I would love to find an 88 Scorpio for restoration. I remember it primarily for its adjustable rear seat. Those were great cars, and the only reason why they didn't sell over here was because of the "NOT INVENTED HERE SYNDROME", that attitude is still prevalent with American car companies even today.
The Mk I Granada is a great looking car!!! This is the first I’ve seen it. I am jealous considering the Granada we got here 😁
Cory Turner Talks Cars For real, I had the American Granada but the UK version looks way better.
I had a MK2 2.8 Ghia. 1978. One of my favourite cars I ever owned. Everyone wanted to ride with me. Happy days.
This was great! I had 2 Granadas over the years, not a car buff at all...the first was just a Granada 2.9 auto, got it for £50 from a friend, cost £200 to get through its MOT and had a good year and a half driving with her. After driving a Sierra for two years the Granada was so luxurious!
I then bought a Scorpio 2.9 Auto for around £600, was the earlier model...nice boxy shape...really loved her and unfortunately the now ex Mrs talked me into chopping for a crappy Mondeo.
My sister married an American airman back in the mid 80s and before they left for America they bought a Taurus....left hand drive Scorpio . Beautiful car but scared the living sheet out of me as I'd been in a bad crash and my sister picked me up in the Taurus and every time she went to overtake I was first in view of oncoming traffic, beautiful car as it was I didn't want to die!
I know it looks like a stretched Mondeo, but I have a soft spot for a late Scorpio estate with the 2.9l engine... Then again, I love all European mainstream brand big cars which are now gone (XM, Kappa, 605, Safrane and 1st gen Ómega)
You should never apologise for liking something. It's better in life to like something than to hate it.
I've had a few of the 24v BOA powered grannies awesome engine, better with a manual gearbox and chucked into a Sierra or Cortina but still good in the Granny. ;) I also had a really rare Mk2 2.8i Ghia S, 4 speed manual and LSD from the factory, that was quite a nice car.
if everyone would drive the same etc. the same etc. the word would be a pretty boring place
the difference to the fun and something to talk/discuss about
Glad you had a soft spot for the Scorpio estate. There are a number of reasons why we designed and developed the Scorpio the way it is, but that's for another day ...
The best times for ford (and gm) europe
Ford's Europe presence will return will full glory in the EV age. Ford and Tesla are the only Automotive stocks in my portfolio. I am really happy with the level of enthusiasm for engineering and design I see coming from Ford these days. I think glorious days are ahead for FoMoCo!!!
When Ford stopped using the Ghia nameplate it kind of felt like the beginning of the end of my admiration of the brand.
Quite LX of you to say.
My parents owned a 1976 Granada 2000 L manual in diamond white. It had the options that made it look more like a GL spec.
In Germany the base model was named Consul, while the executive version was named Granada. My dad bought a Mk1 Consul 1.7 V4 with 51 hp, the size of the car and the automatic transmission transformed it into a comfortable wandering dune, hovering over rough roads and waved the passengers through corners. I would call it a rolling traffic obstruction. But the V4 engine was robust and reliable; the large gap in the engine compartment reminded us that the car was actually designed for a V6. The Consul came in 🍫 metallic brown, with a black vinyl top, popular in the 70s.
Had a few of these cars, Grannys were cheap to buy and we ran em on fivers worth of squirt. 2.8 ghias
In Italy it was appreciated, the second serie expecially.
Considered nothing special about mechanics (as at those times we had Alfetta, Giulietta with their transaxles and bialberos, Lancia Beta, 131), it was very appreciated the design of the second serie and the general balance quality/costs.
A lot of them were sold, big sellers with Opel Rekord among the imported.
I had a 1976 ford granada black and gold edition with bucket seats and three on the floor loved it.
Had a '75 with the 302 and 3 speed, Cragar S/S all around, How many people thought you put the 3 speed in it ?
@@ericwsmith7722 My sister had a 1975 with the 302 and a 3 speed manual floor shift, I loved that car!
Pitch Black windows ?
My Grandad always had Granadas, then got a Mk1 Scorpio in 1991. It was beautiful, had heated seats, leather interior, mobile phone cradle, electric windows and power steering! Apart from his, I only ever saw funeral homes use them as limos to escort hearses.
I had a white 2.9 Scorpio...... was asked twice to use it as a wedding car..
I owned a 1979 2.8 Ghia . Absolutely outstanding car , you could here the clock ticking at 100 mph which it achieved with ease , Dark metallic green with Tan vinyl roof (what happened to Vinyl roofs) it looked beautiful , wish I still had it , I only sold it because my then girlfriend said it was an old mans car . I bought a 323i , which I owned for exactly a month before I introduced it to a rather large tree , I was reduced to a Cortina after that . Excellent video , love this channel ...!!!!
Ford granada mk2s2 1984 2.8i ghia x is my dream car🤩😎
Remember those cars from my apprentice days at a Ford dealership.
The Mk I where strong and almost faultless but prone to rust.
Which Dealership? I was wit Ford motor Co and later invicta motor co. Canterbury.
Rust is a pretty big fault in my eyes.
We had a brake disc fail - cracked - and a coolant problem latterly. Got rid of it years ago - but we still have some rust ! (rear suspension/axles)
Loved my Grannies,had a few over the years, they were cheap to buy. 2.8's being my favourite engine and everything in line as apposed to transverse as it is nowadays. Great to work on as well. I once bought a ghia x shell and took the engine and gearbox out of mine. A very cheap way of updating. Only probs with them was rot where the rear roof drains were. A pleasure to drive though..
...I remember the Ford Granada in the mid-late 1970's..I quite liked them, I think they were based on the Maverick platform, so a smallish-to-mid size car..I don't know of anybody who thought of them as "luxury driving", but they were fairly popular..when I first checked this channel out, I did not realize it was from a "European Standpoint", but it quickly became clear that it is..it is also very interesting..I did not realize so many car names..Granada, Capri, Escort, etc. were names that had already been used in Europe..a few of the actual European iterations of these cars, the Capri, for example, did get imported, but were generally considered cheap economy sedans that were bought by tightwads...I guess maybe Europeans were used to little cars with small engines, but I honestly didn't know a lot of these cars were European imports, I tended to think of European cars as Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen,Jaguar, Rolls Royce,Volvo, etc....it's interesting to see a different perspective like this..In have also taken note that Australians seem to have developed tastes in cars somewhat similar to Americans in many ways, although they tended to be a bit smaller, more what we would call "mid-size" cars..they seemed to favor RWD, also liked V8 engines, and developed some pretty hot inline-six engines as well.. :)
Interesting how people that lived 50 years on this planet can be so ignorant to not know what’s happening in other parts of the world.
Thanks for an interesting video! Brings back memories from my V6 Granadas. :-)
Just a comment regarding Scorpio's V6: it had a V6 from the start, first same 2.4 and 2.8 from Sierra and Granada, then 2.9 with catalytic converter in the late 80's. The 24 valve Cosworth version arrived late 1990.
Ah, The Professionals. Always loved the opening credits with Cowley's Granada smashing through the plate glass window in slo-mo.
Still watching that today in September 2019, love the escorts 2000 and the capri 3 litre
The car smashing through the window was a Consul !!
I always like that they have accessable cars. Not lotus,Astons and jags. Accessible, low key cars that wouldn't draw attention..
A Ford Granada GL was my first car. Midnight blue. Automatic. That's all I've got, I'm afraid. Thanks for putting this on here. Excellent presentation.
Another good video mate. I liked the first and the second one's but the Scorpio killed it with the bouble front.
Finding Nemo didn't exist when this car launched.
Can you do the vauxhall/Lotus carlton story and the mk2 Jag story? as they were the getaway veicle's of there day
The Granada MK2 was the inspiration for the brazilian Del Rey, that used the old platform from the Renault 12 and a variation of the Ventoux engine.
The Mk1 coupe had an amazing body design, the favourite for me.
Nice videos, thanks for sharing!
as a fellow BR I immediately noticed the similarities
My wife has asked for the Granada 1975 she loved it dumped her BMW!
The Granada was allways a good looking motorway cruiser sadly I remember seeing many being murdered by banger racers she was a tough old girl 👍👀
Please explain more 💖💖💖💖💖 With the greatest respect 💖💖💖💖💖💖
stevie 007 they were used in Demolition Derby’s because of how strong they were.
Still are, there are all Granada Banger races
@@gordonmcmillan5556 I have a mk1 as a daily
I had a 2.8i ghia was a fabulous car, sitting at lights you put your foot down the rear squatted the front lifted and off you went, it felt like you were driving a tank, had a 2cv rear end me once and wrote his car off,my damage was he had bent the lip on my exhaust.
Having been watching The Sweeny on Prime I can honestly say that Ford had car design licked in the seventies. Looking at the Granada Mk 1 and 2 now, it just shows what boring yawning inducing modern car designs have become. Most SUVs all look them same with slight differences. Really, there's only Jaguar that can still hack it. Good video.
Agree about ugly looking SUV's. My neighbour has just bought a new silver grey one. It's virtually identical to all the other ones in the neighbourhood. Looks like a tank and must be a nightmare to run, fuel and parking etc.
This is a good video but in my opinion way too little emphasis was given to mk2 model, which, I think, was the biggest seller and the model that defines "Granada" in most people's minds. The new Scorpio/Granada was just a "big Sierra" and never really got accepted by the masses (like mk1 and mk2 did).
My dad had a 1982 3.0 Ghia (Oh yeahhhh!!!).
Was the car of awesome dads everywhere.
I had two Mk2 Grandas, in the late 1980s, a 2.3 Automatic and a 2.8 manual.
The 2.3 Auto was one of the most relaxing cars I’d ever driven, with seats like armchairs I’d motorway cruse for a 5hr journey and get out at the other end as fresh as when I started.
The 2.8 was a beast. If you were too heavy with the throttle when turning at slow speed the rear wheels would spin up and he back end would overtake the front end. [oversteer into a spin] Quite a handful.
This brings back many memories of my first holiday job after school in which I drove to many industrial clients assisting my colleagues by checking and cleaning large magnet storage discs for their big computer systems (one PC of today has more capacity than a giant room of these towers) with a washing machine. As ridiculous as this job might sound, it gave me the opportunity to drive many miles in a VW T3 bus, a VW Passat and a Ford Granada model 2 Estate Wagon with a 2.3 litre-V6. It only had 114 horsepower and an automatic gearbox swallowed even more of these few horses. Despite feeling and sounding quite powerful, it really wasn't. Fuel consumption wasn't good either: Usually around 35 mpg, it dropped to 25 mpg if you drove fast on German Autobahns. But boy, was it a great cruiser! There was plenty of luggage space in this long and wide spaceship. The plush seats were comfy and the specs of the GL and Ghia-versions were luxurious. Climate control, sunroof, electric power windows, stereo system, metallic paint, wooden dashborad, alloy wheels etc. A great place to travel. I would love to drive one again.
I like the video as it exactly describes how Ford had successfully placed itself in the upper middle class in Germany and lost its market share thereafter. May father had a Mk1 with hardtop and 2,3 l engine. Ford wasn't the only major car manufacture which lost the battle in the upper middle class as we call it in Germany. There was Renault, Peugeot, Opel, Citroen, Fiat, Jaguar, Rover. The Japanese luxuries brands never tried at the time, later on they did but failed cause their dealer network was poor. If You want to be successfully in that market segment in Germany, you got to offer at least 3 things. Technology, an established brand reputation for decades and a competitive price. Amazing enough, Volkswagen had to acquire Audi (NSU) after a fierce battle with Mercedes on NSU, to get itself positioned in the segment successfully and it had cost them a fortune across the time. The only way to get that done was by innovation i.e the Quattro technology and fully galvanized bodies plus high end Diesel technology (direct ignition). Nowadays we see Stellantis the PSA/Chrysler/Fiat merger as a successful repositinig on the market and I do give a lot of credit to those managers, cause the European car market is one, where all sorts of weapons are used by the German prime manufacturers & Volkswagen, to keep competitors out. As a German, I have to conclude that this included & includes sabotage as well.......nowadays that might be less of an issue, cause the major common ,,Enemy'' comes from China for EU brands.
Hope this adds some more background to your sound presentation, Thanks 👍
Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in EU :-( In Germany the Green party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on, by reducing petrol stations to only one station per city. :-(
And now most of these are getting smashed up and destroyed in banger racing events. So sad
My first Granada was a 10 year old 1979 Granada 2.8 Ghia Auto with 98000k on the clock. Wonderful, i did another relatively reliable 60k in it before the dreaded body rot got the better of me despite all my efforts with Waxoyle and used engine oil. More of a Limousine than a car and not being an egotistical petrol head its subtle grandeur and comfort suited me perfectly. I STILL think of it to this day. I always hankered after the later 2.8 I Ghia x Executive with leather seats and ALL the extras. Sadly it was never to be. My next was a 1984 MK 2 facelift 2.8 Ghia auto estate. Still nice but the quality of the internal trims, dash. T Shift and indicator stalks was now sadly lacking. I didnt keep it long as i was so disappointed with all this. Beautiful cars though even so.
Loved this car done loads of armed robberies in the 1970’s great getaway car the sweeney couldn’t catch us
First car I ever drove. A coupe that was my mates dads. We were 15 and took it out for a spin. All went well until his dad came back and the game was up. I had parked it the opposite way around.
My first drive too. I was nicked driving my dad's mkII at 15. The police piled 5 of us into the back of a Mini Metro jam sandwich. My dad wasn't happy when he had to ride his bicycle to the police station at 4:30 am on a Sunday morning. :)
my mom learned to drive in a 1975 Powder blue Ford Granada the LTD Crown Vic starting in 1978 was built on the same underpinnings the LTD Crown Vic/Crown Vic were used as police cruisers Boston for ex used the Crown Vic until 2020 even though the platform on which its based was phased out in 2011 several family members of mine were Boston police officers going back to the 1960s and my dad used to bring cruisers home sometimes when my younger brother and I were kids in the 90s when the top trim was LX
Back in the days I restored -73 4 door saloon 2,6 V6 Granada. Hell of a job welding all of the structural body components, urethane which was used those cars, was total nighmare.
Did all the work by myself, exept final paint and clearcoat. I manage to do all those prepwork reasonable well, because car was painted with Standox Swarzblau and 4 layers of clearcoat.
That color was black in shady days, but makes a great effects of blue and purple in sunlight and bright street lights.
Sadly I sold it, it was a great car. Still searchin "cola bottle body" Granada/Consul Coupe easy projects, with reasonable price. Yep, I brobably find unicorn instead :-(
I had 4 mk 2's... Best cars I ever had. Always made me feel right at home...
The American Granada was sort of a stop-gap measure to offer something that would appeal to their large-car buyers in a more reasonable size, so it makes sense that they put LTD styling cues on what was a Maverick (based on the 1960 Falcon) underneath. The Fairmont, which was probably under development by that time, would be the basis for their mid-sized American offerings through the first half of the 1980s, so the less-space-efficient Falcon-based Granada would soon be obsolete. It's hard to tell how things would have turned out if they had integrated the European Granada platform into their American lineup; they could have offered enlarged USA-built versions of it to fit the market conditions. But it would have been a gamble, since I'm sure its independent rear suspension would have made it more expensive to build than its domestic competitors, which turned out to be mostly RWD cars with solid rear axles. It would certainly have boosted the stodgy image Ford had in this market, but it would only have paid off if Americans valued the improved handling the car would have offered. By the 1977, Ford's offerings were such a confused hodgepodge of bloated cars with strange rooflines (eg. the LTD II and Thunderbird) that either Granada would be seen as one of their sanest offerings.
Also worth noting is that the American Granada and its Mercury Monarch sibling were very green cars as they usually biodegraded in just a few short years when exposed to road salt.
And its never a good sign when you have to test people to tell them they are sick!
agreed
I had a German Ford Granada V6 2800ccm in the Eighties, but wasn't satisfied, above all about the cheap trim. It was elegant, good looking, but not at all competitive with Mercedes or BMW all in all. The engine wasn't bad with 160 HP, however I had a lot of problems with the automatic gear: I had to change tree of them (!) even before 100'000 km. In a short: a real desaster of a car! Even the electric driven windows fell apart...
My dad bought a blue mk1 in 1979 - used of course. He loved it. He used to go on about how powerful it was.