“Mouthwatering is the only way to sum up a description of this rolling mansion of Ford quality”, writes our acting assistant motor classics corresponding editor, Myles Gorfe.
By the early 80s Ford was at the top of its game with the Granada. The cars had been honed to a sharp pitch, with superb interiors, tonnes of kit and strong, reliable engines. No wonder they sold themselves.
Few mainstream saloons were as well-sorted as this one. The Ford Granada mark 2 appeared in 1977 and even by 1982 Ford were working hard to improve the car’s creditably admirable noise, vibration and harshness characteristics. Production ceased in 1984. On the engine front, Ford pulled no stops: 1.6., 1.8, 2.0 four cylinder, 2.0 litre six cylinder, the famous 2.3 V6 and 2.8 V6 with fuel injection on later models. And that’s just the petrol units. Ford offered three excellent diesels (which were good enough for Peugeot to use too) in 2.0, 2.1 and 2.5 capacities.
This car (shown above) must be a very reluctant sale. I can almost feel the pain. It would be the same if I had to part with my 1975 coupe.
This is the seller’s heartbreaking appeal for a new owner for his pride and joy: “Here is an outstanding original Granada. I have had this car for 27 years (since 1986). It has been garaged from new and meticulously maintained. Due to business activities I have had the car in my garage and not used since 2000. Reluctantly because I now need the garage I have decided to sell my cherished car. Even though it has not been used for 13 years I have literally put a new battery on it and it fired up and runs perfectly.” It’s only £2,6000. Contact the seller here. This is the finest of the best of the Granadas and you should jump at the chance to own this piece of British motoring history.
[Myles Gorfe has been covering Granada-related news since 1996 with a string of Granada articles to his name plus stewardship of a 1975 2.o Ford Granada/Consul two-door saloon, currently undergoing restoration after extensive fire and rodent damage.]
Driven To Write 
Funnily enough I saw one of these on someone’s drive earlier this week. It had the chin spoiler. I think it was a Ghia X. I should have taken a photo, but it was a bit conspicuous.
Also…the lucky new owner will be glad the new battery was fitted literally rather than figuratively.
Literally: people uses this a an amplifier rather carelessly. It´s suposed to clarify that what sounds like a figure of speech is in fact an accurate description. For example, “Helen was literally hopping mad” means Helen was so mad she really did hop up and down. The example here is suppose to mean “all I had to do was put a new battery in it and it worked immediately.” I think a word fell out “I literally *just* put a new battery in it”… Which would be okay as he is saying that the one and only preparation needed was a new battery.
It´s fun when people say things like “it was so hot the swimming pool was literally boiling” or “it was literally like a mad house, that party”. Literally is word Myles likes to use.
It´s a very fine car this, despite Myles Gorfe´s slight hyperbole. The one type of Granada I have yet to see in a recent small ad is the one with the full leather interior, with those seat pads like American cars. Most of them are the basic leather interiors or cloth. The total full-on, max-fat Granadas are not numerous.
Glory day: the choices in this class were rich. The next year came the R25 and you could pick a 604, CX and any number of oddities from Japan too. Plus, if you did buy a 525i instead you paid through the nose, they looked special and probably nobody else had one on your street.
£26k? Surely this is a typo. Surely?
Mind you, I see that Mercedes lifted this dashboard design for the new E class, so maybe the Granada is a more influential car than I supposed and values are now reflecting that.
It was a typographical error. Simon Kearne has perhaps been sampling too much vermouth.
Pure class, this. When I was 10, to me this was the definitive Executive car. And what an exemplar this one is!
This one is excellent. Is it only a matter of selection that most remaining are full-whackola 2.8 litre cars? Were all the 2.0 GL cars driven into the ground?
A winning machine on all fronts that was unfortunately denied to the remainder of the world by short-sighted decisions by top Ford management.
Where would the Granada have fitted in in the US? It had a very different feel compared to the similar-sized US Fords – should it have been a Mercury or, suitably tweeked, a Lincoln?