The Granada's American cousin

The other day I passed something as rare as a Mercury Monarch. It was deregistered and may have been there for a while, for all I know. The Monarch was the sister model to the Ford Granada – not the European, but the American version.

 

A few weeks ago I visited a Ford meeting at the Sundvollen Hotel. Then I got a closer look at an American Granada. On online car exchanges, I only find a handful of cars for sale. One would think it was an extremely rare model. But the truth is that within 5 years an incredible 2,64 million American US-Granadas and Monarchs were sold!

Was anyone admitted to Norway?

Those of us who have lived a while remember the car import company Norim A/S from Drammen, which brought in the Ford Ranchero and Ford LTD station wagon in the late 70s. Both could be registered as tax-exempt vans. Norim advertised frequently at the time. I mean to remember that American Granada was mentioned in one of them - as a sort of footnote. Perhaps a model they wanted to test on the market? At the end of the 70s, the sale of American cars here at home saw a slight upswing. The oil crisis had caused Detroit to downsize the cars so that they were better suited to Norwegian roads. Harald A Møller started taking in Dodge Aspen. The Dodge Aspen was a competitor to the American Ford Granada - in the USA.

 

Little new under the shell

It was in the 1975 model year that the American Ford came out with a car that would capture the market's demand for smaller cars and stem imports from Europe and Japan. Perhaps that is why they chose to call the model "Granada" - named after a successful European model. But the American model had nothing in common with "our" Granada. It was based on the Ford Maverick. To save money, the model inherited the Mavericks rear suspension and power transmission with roots going back to the 60s Falcon - with a rigid rear axle and leaf springs - which the first Mustangs actually also had. In comparison, "our" Granada had a modern and advanced chassis with independent suspension on all wheels.

Drivelines sourced from the Ford stable

Granted, the Granada was small compared to its bigger brothers at Ford, such as the Torino and LTD. Nevertheless, it was roughly 5 meters long and 1,8 meters wide. It could be supplied with two straight sixes and two V8s, – the 302 engine (5,0 liters) and the 351 engine (5,7 liters). Buyers could choose between three gearboxes, a 3- or 4-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic. All from what American Ford already had in its stable.

 

A car for mother?

I read a test of the Granada 302 V8 in American Road & Track from the launch year 1975. An article totally devoid of enthusiasm. I chuckled at the last sentence where the car journal writer writes that the new Granada was a car he thought suited his mother well.

Decent Amcar

The black Granada I saw at Sundvollen has the largest 351 engine (5,7 litres) which in the standard version delivered 147 HP. The owner stated that the car still had its original paint. Covered by the drops of a passing rain shower, the paintwork actually looked completely smooth. The only thing that revealed its age were tiny nicks in the gold colored pin striping. The car's vinyl-clad "Landau top" had originally been beige, but now in black. The special finish on the coupé roof was very typical of the 70s. When the Landau top has the same color as the rest of the car, the 70s feel is toned down nicely. The Granada could also be delivered with a nice color-matched dashboard, seats, carpets, door sides and seat belts, which only the Americans can.

Mustang in disguise?

Technically, the pictured Granada is quite similar to the Mustang mk1. When the Granada was introduced, Ford had just released the scaled-down Mustang mk2. It could not be supplied with a V8 – only Pinto engines, much to the disappointment and resentment of Mustang enthusiasts. The Pinto was Ford's ugly duckling, - much like the Chevette was for GM. Although the Granada was aimed at reliable, middle-class buyers (including teenage mothers), it should not be overlooked that someone traded in their Mustang mk1 for a Granada similar to the black one in the picture. Probably the best Mustang alternative of 1975. Ford, for its part, tried through an advertising campaign to present the Granada Coupé as an alternative to the popular Mercedes 280 SLC. A talentless comparison, seen from European eyes, - but one should not ignore the fact that it made naive Americans believe that their Granada was a common sight on European roads.

- Wonder if any American Granadas were sold as new in Norway?

 

 

 

See

US-granada and Mercury Monarch in Scandinavia