Book ’Em, Hutch! 1976 Ford Granada Tribute

The Ford Granada, introduced in 1975, was Ford’s response to the European invasion: a smaller car with optional upscale appointments and styling that Ford famously suggested could be mistaken for a Mercedes-Benz 280 costing twice as much. The first generation lasted through 1980 before Ford remade it as one of the countless products on the Fox platform. Nearly half a century later, this Craigslist example is still relatively affordable at $8,000, though its Mercedes pretensions have given way to a red-blooded American reincarnation. Someone has refashioned it as a tribute to another 1970s icon: the red-and-white Ford Gran Torino driven by Starsky and Hutch.

Starsky & Hutch ran on television from 1975 to 1979, with a 1975 Gran Torino appearing in the first season before the production stuck with the 1976 model for the remaining years. Sadly, “Hutch” (David Soul) is no longer with us, having died in 2024. He stayed connected to the character long after the series ended, while “Starsky” (Paul Michael Glaser), who is still alive, seemed less inclined to hold on to his television alter ego. Both nevertheless made cameo appearances in the 2004 movie remake starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.

The original Granada was another offspring of Ford’s heavily used Falcon architecture, which had already spawned the Mustang and Cougar, Maverick and Comet, and eventually the Granada, Monarch, and Lincoln Versailles. Even the early Ranchero had Falcon bones underneath. All things considered, this Granada S&H tribute looks pretty clean, and not like some drunken weekend idea that somehow made it to completion. The pictures are all 20-footers, so you can’t judge the paint job’s quality, but the lines and colors look good from that distance. It has a rear spoiler, and black aftermarket wheels sit nicely in the wheel wells, with raised-white-letter tires that complete the Starsky and Hutch look. The interior also appears to be in good shape, with no obvious tears or badly worn sections. We don’t get to see much of it, but enough to know you’ll be cranking your own windows while keeping an eye on the aftermarket gauges mounted beneath the center dash. An aftermarket radio is also included, presumably ready to provide the appropriate 1970s soundtrack.

With a claimed 93,000 miles on the tried-and-true 302 V8, the Washington dealer describes it as a running classic project and is even willing to finance. The tag hanging from the rearview mirror says $8,500, while the Craigslist listing asks $8,000, so perhaps there’s room to haggle it down even further. He even takes credit cards (always helpful for an impulse buy), meaning you could put the whole thing on plastic, jump behind the wheel, and see if you can fishtail it out of the lot, just like Starsky would.