White Walls, Black Vinyl: 1979 Ford Granada
As a vintage Mustang owner, my own exposure to the Ford Granada is limited to scavenging parts for the rear end. Early Mustangs were often equipped with 8 inch pumpkins and always had drum brakes in the back, but Granada (and Lincoln Versailles) featured a 9 inch rear with disc brakes. Getting that fancy rear end into your 67 Fastback was as easy as heading to the nearest pick-n-pull where Granadas littered the yard like groupies at a Kiss concert — a few custom brackets, and presto you were in business. Little did I know, but you could actually find a Granada outside of the confines of the nations scrap yards, like this 1979 Ford Granada offered for $1700 in Arcadia, FL via craigslist. Tip from dascpcu.
The American 1975-80 Granada should not be confused with the European Ford Granada, but the domestic version was based on the Maverick/Comet platform. The Granada name looked like it was getting canned at the end of 1980, but it got a short reprieve and lived on the Fox platform from 1981-82.
Under the hood is a 250 cubic inch Thriftpower (which was neither thrifty nor powerful) inline-6 that pushes out something like 98 horsepower and 210 ft-lbs of torque. Prepare to be un-amazed as you cruise to 60mph in the 15 second range all the way to a 90ish mph top speed.
The interior in this thing is classic 70s crap from the Ford catalog of interior parts — the square speedometer looks more like a clock, and you will wonder how many fake trees had to perish for each one of these that left the factory.
See a better way to rock a vinyl top in a cheap sedan? tips@dailyturismo.com
That engine! That interior! Its Malaising!
That engine! That interior! Its Malaising!
I believe the disc brake rear end was only on the Lincoln Versailles, not the Granada.
I would not buy this car due to higher miles. You can find low mileage Granada and Monarchs regularly that came out of estates, especially Florida. Just change all the fluids, hoses, and bypass smog to have a reliable driver for under $5k. Upkeep is cheap, simple to work on, and reliable. They will never be a collectable so just wear it out, rinse, and repeat.
Buy this 1977 Granada with 31,000 miles.
Install a 3 point star emblem on top of the grill and tell the wife you just bought her a Mercedes.
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Granadas with 9" disc rear ends are super rare. In 20+ years as a semi-professional junkyard rat, I've never seen one.
The Granada and Monarch could be had with the four wheel disc option that brought the 9in rear along, but there were damn few built that way.