If your desire is for a big, 2-door, 4-seat classic executive coupé, your choices are fairly limited, among European marques, at least. There’s Ford of Germany’s Taunus 20M and 26M, the Opel Commodore A and B coupés, and from the later 1970’s to mid-‘80s, the Opel Monza/Vauxhall Royale coupés. If you’re prepared to move further upmarket, there’s quite a lot more choice – BMW’s E9, the Jaguar XJC, Mercedes-Benz C123 and FIAT’s beautiful 130 Coupé, but all of these generally cost quite a bit more than the less prestigiously badged cars, both now and then.
The Granada coupé’s main classic rivals for your cash
From 1950 through the next two decades, Ford’s presence in the executive market sector was via the Zephyr and Zodiac model ranges – big, wallowy cars with American-influenced styling, particularly in their first three generations, with prominent fins and wide grille. The final generation of these big Fords was the slab-sided, square-fronted Mark IV versions. While uninspiring, these were big, solid cars that in the case of the3-litre V6 were capable of reaching 100mph, but they were also heavy, with corresponding fuel economy.
By the early 1970s sales had fallen, they were looking decidedly dated and were succeeded in 1972 by a model that was to mark the completion of the integration of Ford’s European and UK executive model ranges, with the P7 – or Taunus – range having been the German equivalent of the Zephyr and Zodiac up to that point.
The Ford Granada was a much more modern, European-looking car, and at first the cars at lower-end of the range were known as the Ford Consul, due to a legal dispute with Granada Television in the UK. This was resolved in Ford’s favour and from 1975, all models in the range carried the Granada name
In the UK, engines started with a 2-litre V4, rising through a pair of V6’s of 2.5 and 3.0-litre capacity; the German versions were offered with a 1.7-litre four, as well as V6’s of 2.0, 2.3, 2.5 and 3.0 litres.
The range comprised of a 4-door saloon, an estate, and a fastback coupé, the last originally sporting quite attractive “coke-bottle” lines harking more to the MkIII Cortina rather than the Granada. This coupé was not sold in the UK (nor was the 2-door saloon added to the range in Germany in 1973) but this changed in 1974 to a more straight-lined body shape, and this was offered in the UK only with the 3.0-litre “Essex” engine with a 3-speed auto box and top-of-the-range Ghia trim.
It’s also reasonably swift, despite its size – that V6 and the 140bhp it pumps out to the rear wheels will take the car to a (these days theoretical) maximum speed of 110mph/177mph according to Autocar, who tested a 3.0 Ghia coupe in October 1974. They liked its performance, comfort and refinement, but were a little less enamoured of its standard level of equipment (as mentioned, “our” car has been upgraded) and in comparing it with other big coupés such as the almost twice as expensive FIAT 130 coupé, as well as the Jaguar XJ6, Chrysler Charger and it’s nearest rival on price, the Opel Commodore B GS, felt the big Ford stood up well, especially when taking price into account.
This leads us neatly to our Prime Find, which is a 1975 3.0 Ghia Coupé, first registered on May 23rd of that year and finished in dark Orion Blue – the standard vinyl roof and original factory chrome having been ordered by the first owner as “delete options” – it’s a matter of personal taste whether these are improvements or not; personally, I’m OK with them, or perhaps more accurately, without them.
Previous owners have also upgraded the original cloth upholstery to a contrasting blue and grey leather (admittedly not to my taste), fitted electric front windows, door lock operated central locking, 4-way speakers, and period-correct alloy wheels among other upgrades – there is some dispute about the wheels here at ViaRETRO, however, but these can be replaced with the original wheels as these are supplied with the car. This example, then is pretty well equipped, what some people these days would call a “luxo-barge”, I suppose.
The odometer shows just over 52,000 miles, but these are not warranted, although MOT paperwork since 2006 indicates that the car has been little used since then.
While the paint and chrome are both claimed to be in generally good order, they’re not unblemished, and the vendor has said there are some bubbles under the paint at the bottom of the big doors as well as the rear valance, so a little remedial work might be needed in the not-too-distant future. The underside is said to be rust free, and protected with underseal.
The vendor also says the car drives well, and under his ownership since 2019 has carried out a number of recommissioning and maintenance works, and the car will come with 12 months MoT, a history file plus some spare parts including that set of 4 original steel wheels .
The Granada Mk1 saloon is itself an uncommon sight these days, but the coupé has almost acquired unicorn status, with just eight remaining on our roads, and another nine are SORN. I’ve only seen a couple at shows, and I’ve been to a lot of shows in the three years immediately pre-Covid.
This imposing big Ford is on sale with a dealer near Church Stretton in Cheshire, North West England with an asking price of £12,750, which on the face of it seems a lot for a Mk1 Granada, but this isn’t your common-or-garden Granada, and based on the advert – which you can see here – the work needed to bring it up to excellent condition is minor, though of course one can never be entirely sure. There’s scruffy one for sale in Scotland for £5,500, but that’s the only other Mk1 coupé on sale in the UK at the moment that I can find.
As usual, we’ve borrowed a few photographs from the dealer’s website, and of course recommend you arrange inspection prior to purchase. Whoever does buy this car will certainly stand out both on the road and at classic car events – not long now!
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same. Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk