In the U.S., Ford borrowed the Granada name from Ford of Europe for its new compact that launched in 1975. Eventually, it would replace the Maverick, but for a couple of years, they were both available to buyers with the Ghia being the upscale version of the Granada. This 1976 edition is being offered by its second owner who completed a successful 3,000-mile road trip in it not long ago. It’s currently sitting in their carport in Ewing, Kentucky, and is in need of a new home. The seller doesn’t want to see the car deteriorate, so they are offering it as a no-reserve auction in hopes of finding someone that can appreciate it rather than let it sit. If you’re interested in this Ford, you can bid on it below!
The Granada saw two generations of production through 1982. Until 1980, the car was a compact, moving to intermediate status for 1981-82. At first, it was considered a luxury compact, so the Granada was better equipped than the Maverick, which was discontinued in 1977. Over eight model years, Ford would sell more than two million copies of the Granada in the U.S., about the same number of Mavericks that were also sold for an equal number of model years.
Though this car has been kept covered, Mother Nature has taken its toll. The vinyl roof is cracked and beginning to peel back, and rust has crept into places like the lower fender wells. But it doesn’t look like anything that may be too major that you couldn’t fix when applying new paint. On the other hand, the interior is immaculate (at least when this photo was taken when the seller purchased it), with only the seat belts showing signs of wear. This Ghia has bucket seats up front, which we’re told was a reasonably uncommon option on the car back in the day.
We don’t know what powerplant is under the hood for sure, but the seller knows for sure that it’s a six-cylinder, so it is either a 200 or a 250 cubic-inch inline-six. Ford’s advertising for the Granada back in the day boldly compared the car to the Mercedes-Benz 450, but at a fraction of the cost. Whether that was a fair comparison is another matter, but Ford had done it before – remember their sizing up the new LTD to a Rolls-Royce a decade earlier?
The seller has provided us with photos of the car as it currently sits, as well as photos from when they purchased it a few years ago (the last five photos in the gallery). It’s going to need detailing, but it still runs and drives. It looked to be in very nice shape when it was parked, so chances are it will clean up nicely. The rust in the driver’s rear quarter is a bummer, but we would just treat it and drive the car as is. With prices what they are these days, this seems like it would be a fun and affordable way into the hobby. This one looks like it would make for a great rolling project to learn the basics, and with some mechanical upgrades, it could be a fun sleeper! What do you think, would you get it back on the road as is or would you give it some upgrades?
- Location: Ewing, Kentucky
- Mileage: 99,000
- Engine: Inline-6
- Transmission: Automatic
- Title Status: Clean
Bid On This Auction
- Mark Figler bid $1,000.00 2023-01-13 13:50:24
- James M bid $900.00 2023-01-13 06:22:01
- SILVERFOXX bid $800.00 2023-01-10 22:01:58
- Wheels bid $625.00 2023-01-10 01:47:22
- James M bid $500.00 2023-01-07 07:38:13
- Wheels bid $400.00 2023-01-07 07:15:49
- James M bid $300.00 2023-01-05 20:16:10
What’s up with the “CAR CHASERS” logo in the third picture?
Is this a dealer selling this?
And why no price listed?
The seller is an individual, they bought the car from Car Chasers a while back and provided that photo to show the condition of the interior when they purchased it. Hopefully, they will be able to provide us with more photos of the car soon.
As for the list price, this is a no-reserve auction. The seller just wants the car to go to a good home and will accept whatever amount the auction ends at.
Most unusual is that its a Ghia model but NO A/C, never had it. Many Ghias were 302 V8s and of course had air conditioning and all the bells and whistles. This is an unusual one to have a straight 6 and no air conditioning…..
To me, the Granada was a triumph of the sum of the parts being more than the basics underneath. With its roots all the way back to the humble Falcon, it is a great example of what attractive styling, decent packaging, nice trim, and targeted marketing can accomplish. All the while, the mechanicals being old, or maybe “tried and true.” The car sold well, providing a home for those who wanted an upscale compact car plus those downsizing from an LTD.
This is a decent example. The bucket seats provide a bit of sportiness. Too bad about the rust. Good luck to the seller.
This is true, in that those were solid transportation. Nothing fragile or gimmicky about the 250 six, or the three-speed automatic they used.
Rust protection was another matter. Fords have had issues this way, since the time road-salt replaced tire chains. It was made worse with the 1970s fad of using recycled steel in manufacture – that stuff rusted unbelievably fast. The decomposition noted in the photos, from the owner’s purchase to listing here, is indicative. Given the car’s age, and its construction, it would have to be considered, at best, a three-season conveyance.
They are tough. I worked for a cab company that bought Granadas, used, as taxis. Bought them from rental-car companies – all equipped this way, 250 sixes. They’d last about 500k miles – about two years – before something would break, usually on the chassis.
I wouldn’t characterize the Grenade (as we called it) as entertaining to drive, but in this age of electric power steering, 9-speed transmissions, and turbo fours…maybe the novelty alone would make it worth the driving experience.
@Bob_in_TN
With your knowledge and way with words you would make a good writer for Barn Finds.
Thank you Bakyrdhero for the kind words.
The styled steel wheels made these look snazzy. Finally a barn find car that should go for cheap.
We had a 77 Granada for our driver’s Ed in highschool , it was uncomfortable nevermind four teenagers and a instructor. My thought is it wasn’t pretty, Ford could have done better with the late 70s cars.
We had a 1976 light blue Granada for our DriversEd class too. Fall semester 1976 I was in 10th grade & the Granada was the one several of us like better than the Impalas that were also available. Interior seemed OK, but we were all younger/thinner back then. The fun was when the instructors would lets drive the course without them, & the right front passenger would occasionally hit the extra brake pedal that had been installed.
The comparison to any Mercedes was ridiculous. That being said, my parents 302 equipped Ghia they purchased new in ’75 was one of my favorite rides ever. First quiet, smooth riding smaller car I had ever driven.
Man I love it. Reminds me of Dads 76 LTD only shrunk. Which I’m sure was the idea. I’m seriously considering biding on it for my 16 year old daughter. She’ll hate it. Hehehe. Which means I’ll get to keep it
Are you sure she’ll hate it?
I knew a guy online, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, in an area where old cars tend to last. He had photos of a teen girl he knew of (friend of a friend) whose first car was a Plymouth Volare. Not sure how she got it, but there it was – a Grandma-mobile, four doors, vinyl roof, not a spot of rust.
I commented that she was probably really ticked off to be made to drive it.
“Are you kidding?” I heard back. “The kids all think it’s KOOL!” I guess, singularity, lack of many like it, equates to social status, now.
I’ve driven them, when they were just used cars, not even that old, and I had little to praise about them. They rusted almost faster than Fords…although the M-Body replacement (essentially the same car) was far better.
So, give it to your daughter, and she may find she really likes it…
We had a 1980, four-door, white, 250 I6, automatic. Owned it from 82 to 95 when we upgraded to a minivan, just what the growing family needs. No rust issues in Phoenix, no major problems, solid dependable ride. Not an exciting ride by any means, but a good family car, looked nice the whole time we had it.
It was more a ludicrous comparison to any Mercedes. Regardless of the model. A non-stop equally ludicrous advertising campaign sold lots of these
heaps.
My mother bought a brand new one, a top of the line Ghia in either 1976 or 1977. It was a 1976 model.
These cars were far from what one would expect or call a compact car.
And I guess that’s where Ford in their brilliance came up with the term,
luxury compact car. It was placed between the Maverick & the Torino in
Ford’s car lineup. I think of compacts as cars like the Datsun B210 or the VW Rabbit or the Ford Pinto. The Granada was far larger than these
compacts.
They looked alright, her’s was all black with a black vinyl roof and a burgundy interior. Mechanically they were underpowered heaps
if you had either of the 6 cylinder motors. Ok i guess if you lived
in the flats. On hilly terrain, they were crawlers.
After 2 generations covering 7 years they mercifully were put to rest.
Are there any U.S .cars you like ? You continue to call any U.S car a heap, regardless of make model or year- these were good cars for the time, and a good size car , and sold very well. Gas economy in a good size car was the reason these were built and the reason they were popular. These heaps, as you call them, also had V8s , maybe you should have told your mom to buy a v8 powered one, or likely in your case a 1976 corolla- that would have been a real powerhouse in ’76 .
What you think of a compact was known as a subcompact – compact cars here were the Valiant Nova Falcon Rambler platforms , and all the 70s compacts derived from them . A Granada was an offshoot of the Falcon , so still considered a compact. Pinto ,Gremlin, Vegas were known as subcompacts.
Your comment on them being “mercifully put to rest” is as ludicrous as your comment about their ads. In an era of change all companies had to make their cars more efficient, and mid 70s economy was not going to be good enough for the 80s. The platform was ended because of that, not because of poor sales.. The second gen Granada was more efficient, but it was nothing more than another Fox platform Fairmont wanna be ; something to get sales before the new Taurus car came out. . .
Well well well….certainly got your panties in a bunch over a 40+ old Ford relic.
And their sales did drop substantially there Mr. Granada.
1976 Ford sold 550,000 Granadas.
By 1982, the final year of production that dropped by almost 80%
only 120,000 were sold.
Mercifully they pulled the plug, since people found out what a mostly
horrible car this was. Which was reflected in it’s massive sales drop.
So do some research before yapping, little one.
Maybe you should have read what I wrote. The last gen Granada was not the Falcon based car, but a Fox platform. They was no real reason to put them out as they were still basically a Fairmont , which sold very well .
Basically I’m calling you out – every car , or at least every U.S. car, you call a heap , maybe because of low power or handling . Basically in your judgement , a Model T could be called a heap , slow, doesn’t ride well, doesn’t stop well, etc . But they sold millions . The same could be said for the VW Beetle . You cant compare todays cars with something made 50 years ago .
The Granada did not replace the Maverick; the Fairmont did. The Granada continued to be produced alongside the Fairmont through 1982.
And the Mercury Zephyr,what did that replace?
I showed her the pictures. Hates it. On the other hand my 19 year son that’s been fixing up a VW Cabrolet with me wants to go get it.
I was surprised to find one of these locally on Craigslist, in white but no vinyl top, with a factory 4 speed popping up through the plush carpet– with seats just like this one. Someone snapped it up before I could go take a look. That would have been a fun car.
Good luck keeping tires on it. Frame problems.
They are unibodied cars, no frames . I never saw any with issues to the unibody
I bought a ’75 model Ghia with the 302 engine/auto same color and interior as this car. I loved and my wife hated it and eventually made me trade it for a Ford F-100 long bed truck. It was more useful but I preferred my Grenada. I finally got a divorce, my boss wanted my truck, and I bought a Cutlass Olds after I sold him the truck.
I would be interested in this if it had a 302 engine. I could deal with the rust repair.
My parents bought a brand new 76 Granada Ghia, loaded with every option. The 302 in it was gutless and got terrible gas mileage. The back seat felt like sitting in a tomb, tough to see out and the rear seat bottom sat very low. I will say it was very quiet inside and the front seats were alright but really too soft. Pop never had any mechanical problems with it for the 15 years they owned it, probably had close to 100K miles on it when he sold it. Decent looking car in dove grey with matching interior, but numb steering and overpowered steering and brakes. A car that defined the word “Yawn”.
Yep, they were horrible cars, not physically but the way they drived. So if the 302 V8 was gutless, you can imagine how horrible the 6 cylinder ones were, which we had the bigger 6. Thing drove like an under-powered pickup truck.
Literally crawled up any substantial hill, it was so under-powered.
And god help you in the summer with the AC on. Which cut the power ever more.
You can tell by the comments who actually drove or owned these bombs and who didn’t. Of course people being people….will sometimes never admit to even themselves….something they purchased….was actually a bad purchase.
I have no problems saying a heap is a heap, regardless of whether I owned one or not. If people don’t like that…..that’s their problem.
You were probably 8 when your mom bought one of these , these were a decent car for the era . They got you from point A to point B , nothing special, just transportation – By the way, the worst car I ever owned was a 76 Capri , Ran ok, but not a lot of power, and made of some kind metal that hated the Northeast weather -that , and a 83 Cavalier for the same reasons
This is what you use to teach your new teenage kids to drive in so they aren’t relying on all the new technology that does almost everything for you then if they hit a Prius it will still be able to drive away
Over 2 Million sold, when was the last time u saw one on the road?
When was the last time you saw a mid 70s Honda Accord ? They sold tons of them too. or any 47 year old car ? Truth is, on average , cars seem to have a ten year life span. Sure, there are some people that really take care of their cars, and then there’s the “little old lady” rides, but usually after about a decade, people start giving up on repairing the tired old car ,and either junk it or trade it in, where it ends up getting junked anyway. In todays world where just a replacement catalytic converter for some cars can cost 3 grand , it doesn’t make sense to replace it and off to the junkyards the cars go , even through they may be in decent shape.
My 91 Caprice (retired police car), bought in 05/1995 had 256,000 miles on it when my daughter traded it in for a brand-new Focus in 2008 (Cash for clunkers–How else could I have received $3500 for my beloved black beast? Fast forward to 2008. I bought my stepson’s 2003 TrailBlazer for $8,000 to get out of a financial jam. I grew to love it more than the Caprice. Out West (I-80, I-70, I-15, I-76, you name the super-slab). Replaced the transmission at 253,000 miles. One alternator, 2 sets of plugs and oil changes, fuel system flushes. The transfer case was never touched. AM/FM, cassette and CD. Everything was working when I traded it off on a 2008 TrailBlazer LT 11/19/20019–345,000 miles and I enjoyed it. Set the cruise at 90 mph and the tach would settle on 2700 RPM (4.10 Rear End). The 08 had 35,500 miles!! It has goodies beyond the ’03: Power driver sear, electric sun roof and a Bose stereo AM/FM CD with aux input. Ninety MPH is 2500 RPM. I traded off my 03 because I was worried about getting a decent replacement for it.. Do the maintenance and put the hammer down. The 08 has 30 more hp and a 3.42 in back. Since I started more complete records in 1995, Every vehicle in the family has gone well over 200,000 miles except for the 2004 LWB Venture which had 183,000 miles on it was clobbered by a 21-year-old skank (no license and no insurance–2nd offense) and totaled by USAA. $5500 (minus the 500 deductible) or $4500.
That’s impressive, but it relates to the Granada how? You sound like a Chevy guy.
Hi John,
I am a Chevy guy–because of the way my Chevies took care of me. Actually, I should say GM guy. In my youth I was Chrysler product all the way, just like my Dad. He had a 1962 Plymouth station wagon that was legendary in our family. He traded in the 1959 Rambler wagon for the Plymouth in the spring of 1964. He had orders for Germany (Hqs USAREUR in Heidelberg) and wanted a good car for Germany. The Rambler was NOT loved–eve our German Shepherd hated it. That Plymouth was born for the Autobahn and Dad was born a lead foot. In April of 1966 Dad was levied for Vietnam. I was 16. In May of ’66 I took the driving part of Drivers Ed, passed both tests and received my first DL. Mother was pregnant with my first sister–Liz would be the third kid; my brother was 11. Dad was a Major and Executive officer of the 22nd Replacement Battalion destined for Cam Rahn Bay. On Sept. 26 I drove my mother to Madigan Hospital for my sister’s birth. Madigan Hospital was between McChord AFB and Fort Lewis Washington. It’s now called Madigan Army Medical Center. Dad retuned from Vietnam (as a Lt. Col,) in late August 1967 with orders for Heidelberg. In September ’67 we were back and I was able to do my Senior year where I started my freshman year which meant two things for me: Dad survived Vietnam and I was back home for my senior year. I had a WA DL which meant I just had to pass the written test and I would have a USAREUR DL. That test was based on the German written test based on German law and the international road signs for Europe. The sign part had to be perfect–you couldn’t miss one sign. The test took 1 hour–it was timed. I passed and the adventure began. I had a 1966 Honda Super Hawk and it arrived in October. The Plymouth and the Super Hawk were fantastic on the Autobahn. I knew then how lucky I was all the way around. My need for speed and wanderlust were both satisfied.
I am a Chevy, Honda, BMW guy, or whatever based on my experience and ownership with them. I have bought only 2 new vehicles in my life–1978 Chevette with the High Output 1.6 litre engine (!!?) and the 1981 Yamaha. I prefer for someone else to take the depreciation hit. Thanks for responding to me. I have enjoyed this, but I have to get back to my chores.
This looks like it was a nice clean car but hasn’t been properly stored and maintained. Pity. Hope it can be saved and revived
Wife and I used to have a 1975 Grenada ghia and I always wondered if it was a rare one due it having a 302 and 3 speed on the floor with bucket seats…no console
It was powder blue with white vinyl top.
My good childhood friends parents had a 76 Mercury Monarch bought new. 302 4 speed with bucket seats.She hated that car because of the 4 speed but her husband loved it. Red with a white 1/2 vinyl top.
I had a 77 Granada Sport. Black with gold stripes and gold vinyl roof. Gold magnum 500 wheels. 14 x 6 Goodyear tires. A 302 H.O. with edelbrock intake and 600 Holley. Long tube headers full dual exhaust , comp cam and valve train. 10.5 compression roller rockers with 3/8 screw in studs. Transgo shift kit.
I swapped a Levi’s Gremlin and cash for a ten year old 302 equipped two door Mercury Monarch in gold with tan upholstery, bucket seats,p/s, C6, p/b, vinyl top, but no a/c!!! I enjoyed the ride and it never le me down for the year I had it but I saw a ’68 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser in white! I traded the Merc and bought the Olds for £1300 and enjoyed the 350 !
You were probably 8 when your mom bought one of these , these were a decent car for the era . They got you from point A to point B , nothing special, just transportation – By the way, the worst car I ever owned was a 76 Capri , Ran ok, but not a lot of power, and made of some kind metal that hated the Northeast weather -that , and a 83 Cavalier for the same reasons
My sister, moreless inherited a ’75 monarch almost identical to this one here. It had the bucket seats and dealer installed ac its controls was left of the glove box. It worked ok. But the car always had sucky heat in the winter. It was a 302v8 2barrel. Am radio. It wasn’t bad it wasn’t great fairly solid transportation though. It was light metalic green . Advertised car here appears to have cruise control by looking at the turn signal stalk.
My father bought a Granada when they first came out-quite the looker with black paint, a reddish vinyl roof and matching interior. Quiet and smooth riding, but totally lacking in power (250 six banger with auto). I’m thinking 100 net HP? Passing cars on the road was not even considered! Fuel mileage was not great, but l guess comparable to other cars of that size. But again, it looked good!