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.
I never would have…… In 1000 years ever thought of doing this to a Grenada. And yet….. The Striped Tomato paint scheme really works on it. The way the stripe follows the line of the back window actually looks pretty good. And the red interior is in really good condition from what I can see in the photos. The rims and tires work too. I’m not a fan of the small wing in the back, but it’s not a deal breaker. Somebody can have a real blast with this.
I agree with you! I never would’ve thought of using a Granada to make a replica of that car, but it almost works! And actually after seeing this car, it makes me really think how similar looking the Granada is to a Gran Torino.
One of the problems with the grand Torino is that it’s such a big heavy car and using a Granada could actually help solve some of that problem. Hot Rod magazine did an article on the movie version of the Starsky and Hutch car and they were saying how heavy the car is and you need a lot of power to move that car. The Granada is still not a light car but I would be curious to drive one of these with a hopped up 302 in it..
But if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing ALL THE WAY.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CC-26-008.jpg
Missed it by that much..
Hahahah!
I’m with Dave (Driveinstile). I wanted to not like this, but it isn’t half bad.
Thanks Sam. Great line: “and not like some drunken weekend idea that somehow made it to completion.”
Welcome to Sam as well, got a lot of new writers, and partial to the name, as my grandfather, of Packard fame was also Sam. A name, unlike Howard, that seems to be making a comeback.
The car? Sorry Sam, you’ll soon realize I’m not the optimist the others are,^^^ and I thought the Torino replicas are a joke, but at least it’s the correct car. The show wasn’t that popular to have just any car with the paint scheme. And did you know the producers had to install bucket seats in the Torinos because Soul was tired of sliding across the bench seat into Glaser on hard turns. It was well known, Glaser hated the Torino, and did everything in his power to destroy it. Apparently, they used 10 Torinos in the almost 90 episodes. Ah, Hollywood.
The Granada was a good car, I just never thought I’d see one with a stripe down the side. Certainly a nice car otherwise.
Once again I must recommend the Starsky and Hutch movie w Stiller and Wilson 🎬 to the readers. It’s hillarious 👍 lol 😅 🍿
You are correct Stan……
Great Movie……
Not so much the Granada
I need to put it on a different screen when I get home not sure if I see painted over rust spots or reflection from the ground. Reminds me of an Earl Scheib paint job
When I was in high-school in the late 50s my car buddies and I would get Earl Shibe paint jobs. If you did all sanding and prep work your self it came out pretty nice. If we left a case of “Olympia” stubbies in the trunk for the painter , it came out really nice!
Back in the late 50’s my car buddies and I used Earl Scheib . If we did all of the sanding and prep work you got a decent paint job. If you put a case of ” Oly ” stubby’s in the trunk for the painter you got a really good paint job!
My friend’s sister used Earl Schieb to paint her early 60s bug. The hood katch was red, the moulding, as well as the volkswagen letering on the rear engine lid. Had plaid seat covers from Kertzmans junkyard in Quincy, Ma. The best place around to get VW parts. It went out in the 70s, the land us now a mall and parts a condo project.
TEMU Starsky and Hutch.
Close enough…
I often tell my son, “I don’t start any design till I see what I have available.”
Obviously, this boy listened to his dad.
Glad to see that rear wing for when you cruise over 100mph.
The real deal was pretty bad, this is awful.
Steve R
I think it’s hilarious! 🤣
Ok Sam welcome aboard, but careful with the “drunken weekend idea” remarks as a few of us resemble that statement!
In 1979 I helped a buddy remove all the interior and glass from a perfectly good 55 210 post and then dechromed, cut the fenders out and welded a roll cage into it so he could run it at The Barren County Speedway (dirt track). This idea came about because his dad had a racing seat and harness setup in his garage, which at the time was probably worth more than the car. It lasted 3 weeks before being totaled. We quickly realized that cutting the mufflers off a 265 powered vehicle didn’t make it any swifter! He still has that damn seat in his garage.
Ive had the 302 Grenada. You arent fishtailing anywhere.
This paint job looks ridiculous on a Granada, but the spoiler on the decklid???Might as well bolt a wing on a brick as aerodynamic as this Granada is. There must have been a few beers involved in this creation.
I once saw a first-gen Taurus on the highway that had a wing just like it on the back. And no, it was not an SHO.
Why? Just why? Clone world existence is a thang.
Gotta tell you, this has never crossed my mind. Not even once. Ironically, it’s not as awful as if you tried to describe it without a picture.
imagine how stupid you would look driving this thing.
Now I want to “Starsky & Hutch” every Ford coupe, just to see what it looks like. I think I actually prefer this to a Torino “tribute”. It would also look pretty good without the stripe – those raised-letter tires & black wheels, nice stance, all work for me.
Need to see if Scotty G has a file of them like the convertibles.
The Starsky & Hutch rolling tomato was frankly an embarrassment. This is just stupid.
The adjusted Hawaii 5-0 reference is insult added to injury.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should… But it would have made a great entry into this past county fair’s Demolition Derby!
Really?! :)
TEMU Tomato.
I wouldn’t have given 80 dollars ($473.73 adjusted) for a Granada when it was new. I find it sad that folks think these Malaise abominations are all of a sudden cool. For the record I think the same about 70s Cutlasses and Camaros….IMHO 😆
And I laughed…………….and I laughed……………..and I laughed…………….
Lovely looking car. Although I was too young at the time to drive a car, I remember the Ford Granada. I think the 1974 Gran Torino was used in the TV series Starsky and Hutch.
The official Starsky & Hutch car of Bizzaro World. I had a 77 Granada Ghia and if I showed up at the teen hangout with that scheme back in the day…fugettaboutit.
The official Starsky & Hutch car of Bizzaro World. I had a 77 Granada Ghia and if I showed up at the teen hangout with that scheme back in the day…fugettaboutit. Bad enough I was driving a total nerdmobile.
Dash is cracked, drivers side headrest is torn.
Thanks Joe for catching that, I was about to cash in my 401K
to get this Movie / TV piece of History !
Well, I just had to look …
If only more interior pics were posted. There’s plenty of exterior pics, but not enough interior pics.
At first glance, it was “what the heck?” Then, this Granada started appealing to me. This paint job fits the car, and the wheels and tires set it off. Just needs more engine.
A wing on the back, and a column shifter.
Talk about a mismatch.
The Ford Coupe’ that would be a perfect candidate for the “Big Tomato” treatment ( that was a running punch line in Starsky and Hutch) would Be a Fairmont Futura Coupe’! Look at the rear roofline, it’s perfect And lighter than a Granada!
I never say this, because everyone has a different vision, but in this case:
“I wish that I could unsee this”.
The only thing I’d change is the gauge cluster. Cars should never have warning lights for gauges or aftermarket gauges underneath the dash.
One of the worst vehicles I’ve ever owned was a 1976 Ford Granada in silver with dark red vinyl roof. 200 6 cylinder with manual 3 on the column. Same interior as this one. It was the very last ‘modern’ car I ever owned. Barely enough power to pull your hat off and forget trying to pass another vehicle on the highway… except for farm tractors. I’ve forgotten why I even owned it. I traded it in for the best pickup I’ve ever owned, a 1980 Toyota SR5 4×4 with 20R & 4 speed. This was in the early 1980s.
I owned only two other Ford products, a 1980 POS F150 4×2 with 351 modified and automatic. As truly bad as the Grenade was, it was better than that awful pickup. The other was a sky blue ’71 Pinto when I was 18. POS there as well but memorable as it was in the back with the hatchback open that I lost my virginity. No Fords ever again. I’m not saying they didn’t make good vehicles, but it was so sporadic to find a good, affordable, dependable one. I just wasn’t good at finding one. Our family did own a 289 3-speed ’66 Mustang, my sister’s car that was decent.
If that Toyota was a SR5 it would have the 5spd in it. That was one of the major “options” you got when you moved up from the base line to the SR5 line along with nicer interiors, stripes, etc.
Ok i got it on a bigger screen appears to be reflection and not rust, call me crazy but i kinda like it, not enough to drop $8K on it but would be fun
1983-4– My high school buddy Ron’s dad was in the state government and got an inside line on a state auction (dad was notoriously frugal). Anyway, Ron ended up with a baby blue ’76 Granada out of the state motor pool. The beigiest of beige vinyl interior, yet in very nice condition. The real surprise is that it had a 302 with a 4-speed stick. Yes, a bench seat and a stick. We figured it must be a fleet special order or something, because no one ever saw another like it. Us friends of his were Ford kids and it wasn’t long before it had a 4 barrel intake and carb. Then we cut off the exhaust and got a couple Cherry Bomb glass packs out of the bin at the parts store. The end result was still slow, but it was so loud Ron had to sneak it home and park a block away from his house. It would spin one tire as long as you wanted when the clutch was dumped.
The first time his dad caught wind of what we’d done that Granada was gone in a New York minute and poor Ron ended up with a Mustang II Ghia. There wasn’t anything you could do to make that cool.
The Granada began as a replacement for the “cheap and cheerful/plaid bench seat” Maverick, but it was restyled while still underdevelopment along the dimensions of the Mercedes W114 series, to be seen as a more “upscale” compact.
Ford urgently needed to put new fuel-efficient models in the showroom, to compete with Japan’s increasingly upscale models, and to capture buyers of big Detroit sedans wanting to downsize, but not wanting to be seen as losing status. The perception that a small car was a cheap car ran deep in Detroit in the 1970s.
I think they are handsome cars. Lincoln styling, not exactly “Euro,” but less chrome, and actual bucket seats up front.
Ford did lean into the “like a Mercedes ” theme in its advertising, to reassure potential buyers that they would not be perceived as broke losers for buying a smaller model.
I seriously doubt that anyone ever cross-shopped a Granada Ghia vs a Mercedes 240D, and if they did, they deserved what they got, in either direction.
Very good recollection of the time. It seemed like a replacement for the Maverick but I believe it really was an entry level personal luxury car. A junior Thunderbird if you will. Not wanting to dilute their own brand and also raise the small car’s imagine, they took aim at what Americans could relate to, Mercedes. This allowed the Maverick to maintain its spot until the Fairmont was ready.
Ford also used its sponsorship of the many prime time detective shows to promote their wares. If an angel could drive a Mustang II or Pinto, so could you.