Ford Granada

The Ford Granada was the name for several cars produced by the Ford Motor Company. A series of cars was produced under this name in Europe, while an unrelated automobile used the name in North America.

Europe

In Europe, the Ford Granada was produced at both its German factory in Cologne and its British factory in Dagenham from between 1972 until 1976 when production switched entirely to Germany until it was discontinued in 1985. From 1985-1994 the Granada name was used in the UK only.

1972

The 1972 release Granada succeeded the English Ford Zephyr/Zodiac, and the German Ford 17M/20M/26M, as Ford's full-size European offering. Apparently Granada Television were not happy with the choice of name for the car and considered legal action, although they soon backed down.

It soon became common as taxi, fleet and police usage. It was also converted into limousine and hearse versions by the British companies Coleman Milne and Woodall Nicholson. At first, lower models in the range were called the Ford Consul, but from 1975 on they were all called Granadas. It was best known for its appearance on the television series The Sweeney.

Mechanically, the European Granada conformed to Ford convention, the initial range using the Ford Essex V4 unit in 2.0L displacement, and the "Essex" V6 engine in 2.5 and 3.0L capacities. German models employed a V4 unit in 1.7L displacement, or the 3.0L Essex V6, or, more commonly the "Cologne" V6 in 2.0, 2.3 or 2.6L capacities. The V4 was later replaced by the Pinto unit. The car generally was more conventional than the previous Ford Zephyr/Zodiac mechanically, utilizing a solid coil sprung rear axle and rear drum brakes, as opposed to the previous model's independent rear end and rear disc brakes.

The cars were available as two- and four-door sedans, a five-door station wagon (Turnier) and two-door fastback coupé. The early (1972-73) Coupé had slightly different sheetmetal; a more pronounced "coke-bottle" line. In 1974 the coupé was revised, with more straight lines. The "coke-bottle" coupé was never sold in UK. The revised coupé was sold only in Ghia-trim in the UK, elsewhere in all trims with all engines available. This was the reverse of the situation with the TC Cortina and Taunus, where the British model had the "coke-bottle" styling.