That may be a rhetorical question, wondering whether this is the nicest 1979 Mercury Monarch left. I can’t imagine that there’s a nicer one anywhere. There may be a better-equipped one or one with a bigger engine or something like that, but nice is nice and this one is incredible. The seller has it listed here on eBay in York, Nebraska. It’s at $3,700 which it will not sell for, but they’ll end the auction for $8,950 so don’t think or dream that you’ll get it for much less than that.
Ok, I admit it, I was going to bid-to-buy this one, mainly because of how nice it is, how close it is (relatively), and the bid price was hovering around $2,500 for a few days. Then the seller added a couple of paragraphs with one of them having the $8,950 price and that was that. I still want it but not for that price, not that it isn’t worth that. I actually prefer the later Monarch over the earlier ones, such as this 1975 model. It seems smoother and more refined, less clunky. Maybe it’s the paint scheme or the size of the wheel well trim or something. Our own Russ Dixon showed us a very nice, similar two-door Monarch a year ago. I think I like that one even better, other than the dirty engine compartment compared to this surgically-clean one. From the comments, it sounds like it was bid up to around $3,000 and didn’t meet the seller’s reserve. Hmm…
The Mercury Monarch was made for a half-dozen years, from 1975 to 1980, and for the last three years, they were upgraded – or restyled – with square headlights and other refinements. Or what Mercury brass thought were refinements. The Monarch is related to the Ford Granada, of course, and also to one of my favorite oddball vehicles: the Lincoln Versailles. One of these days, Alice! (I’m going to own a Versailles) This beautiful two-tone two-door has fewer than 44,000 miles on it and was a one-owner car until 2018 when the original owner passed away.
As perfect as the body of this car appears to be, the interior looks somehow even nicer, if that’s even possible. This is not a fancy car by any means by today’s standards. You’ll roll your own… windows, the seats are perfect but they’re vinyl, not leather or a nice velour or other fabric. Worst of all? There are, gasp, no, cup holders! I know. But seriously, for 1979 this was a nice car and it still is. This particular one is really, really nice, maybe the nicest one left!
This may be the biggest drawback on this car, and it’s not a drawback by itself, because it’s a nice, clean, perfectly-running Ford 250 cubic-inch inline-six with just under 100 horsepower. A lot of you were waiting for a 302 V8 here, admit it. I was, too. I think that if this car had a 302, that $8,950 asking price may have been finalized by now with someone. The air-conditioning is ice-cold and everything works like new and you will most likely never find as nice of a two-door ’79 Monarch again. Have any of you owned a Monarch or Granada? Extra points for having owned a Versailles.
The Monarch (and similar Granada) are examples of what can happen when appealing styling and attractive trimming are applied to what otherwise would be a hum-drum offering. These were based on the lowly Falcon, but with the effort put into them, ended up being nicely-done, good-selling, popular, profitable cars for Ford.
This is an excellent example, with period-correct colors and a well-preserved interior. I too wish it was a 302; don’t expect much power OR fuel economy OR smooth driveability from the strangled straight six.
Good write-up Scotty. This could be a good cruiser for not much money. We can tell you are really tempted…
Thanks, Bob! It’s nice to hear from a Ford expert on these cars. My best friend’s parents had a brown four-door Monarch in 1976 or so and at the time I thought it was nice but I wasn’t even of driving age yet so I was pretty green. They moved on to a red two-door LTD II, they had pretty interesting car choices.
The Falcon was long gone by the time these came out, having died as a stripped version of the Torino in 1971. These cars are more closely related to the Maverick, whose structure was heavily modified to create these cars.
Had a 77 Granada Ghia 4 door in a royal blue with white vinyl top. 302ci. Was a proper nerd mobile for a 17 year old. Was a solid car. Ñever an issue other than changing a water pump. If this Monarch had the 302. Love the wheels on these. The çouple version is so square it’s almost cool.
Had a 77 Granada Ghia 4 door in a royal blue with white vinyl top. 302ci. Was a proper nerd mobile for a 17 year old. Was a solid car. Ñever an issue other than changing a water pump. If this Monarch had the 302. Love the wheels on these. The çoupe version is so square it’s almost cool.
Simple and easy to service. A quick check of the local used car classifies tells me that for under 9 grand there aint much out there I’d like to be seen in, much less cars with any kind of character with only 44,000 miles on the clock. Need a second car? Get the Monarch (maybe for less) and be a King!
I like her just the way she is.
Based upon period FoMoCo Granada advertising this would be an upscale, supposed competitor to Mercedes. One of Ford’s 70s ‘Better Ideas’ was lighted coat hooks. Then again no one knew Granada was a county until the Reagan presidency.
Say what you will about the ‘malaise era’ but without it automotive technology wouldn’t be where where it is today..
It’s “Grenada”, not Granada. :)
Grenada was the island that Alzheimer’s afflicted Ronald Reagan decided to invade in an effort to put an end to Viet Nam Syndrome.
Granada was the “precision size” offering from Ford, and the Mercury Monarch was its badge engineered offspring.
Maybe you’re thinking of the Monarch ESS (European Sport Sedan) model? It had racing mirrors, blacked out (some, not all) trim, and the 14″ Magnum wheels or the 14″ lace type wheels similar to those seen earlier on the King Cobra for sale.
I believe you need to read the Seller’s notes a bit more closely.
The auction is No Reserve. If you hit the BIN button they will throw in $500 of free shipping. If the BIN isn’t utilized the buyer is on his own for the transportation costs.
Mr. Hughes, there is no buy-it-now button, the seller added that text after the auction started and after I wrote this post.
There is no way for a bidder to end the auction early other than getting in touch with the seller through the contact us form and somehow convincing them that they’ll give them around that amount of money for it. If they give them $8,950 they get free shipping if they’re within 500 miles of York, NE, if not then they pay for their own shipping. I predict that the seller will never let this car go for too much under $8,000 so the auction will end early. I could be wrong and we’ll all know in 18 hours.
Scotty, I just sent in a tip to BF about a pretty minty 1980 Granada sedan up in Ontario, priced at 7,488 CDN. Looks to be a top-trim car, Versailles-ish inside. Also a straight-six.
I love the boxy shape of the Monarch which was outwardly styled like the Mercedes Benz 240-280-300 series and the Cadillac Seville. Not a fan of vinyl seats; cold in winter and hot in summer. I drove a Monarch one time. An older couple just bought it and came to show it off to a friend and I. They asked if I wanted to drive it. The power steering felt like it was from an LTD or 1960s luxury car…effortless but no road feel to keep it on center or turn confidently . The Bobcat had power rack and pinion steering and went exactly where it was aimed. The Monarch ride was smooth and soft like a bigger car but probably was based on 1960s Falcon underpinnings and did nothing to help handling. The car I drove that night had the V-8 but did not feel responsive around town. A Monarch was designed to be a wallowy luxury car in a compact body to lure Fomoco buyers to more efficient products to comply with CAFE rules. I never desired to own one after my complimentary test drive.
Auction update: the seller was true to their word and this gorgeous Monarch sold for $6,655! I was wrong! Someone got a good deal here (not me, unfortunately). This one may show up again online somewhere, stay tuned.
Just like the Chrysler entry a few postings down, this is an awful car.
Anybody who has ever driven any 70’s car would rather drive anything else (with a few exceptions. VERY few)
They were so badly strangled with emissions equipment, most cars of that era barely ran. Until reliable electronic fuel injection came along, these were the best you could get.
You wouldn’t want the 302 on this car. Those came with the variable venturi carb (another gift thanks to the EPA clean air zealots) that was nothing but trouble to get it to run right. The cure was to pull the carb and intake and replace them with an Edelbrock setup.
I had a Granada for one day. My dad bought it from a mechanic friend when I was a freshman in college. I had to drive it home – 30 miles – to the farm I grew up on to do some chores. We lived on a rock road, and the dust from that road poured into the car. One of my buddies was with me; he used some kind of hair product and wore glasses. When we got to my farm he got out and his hair was coated with limestone rock road dust, and his glasses were coated with the stuff. Anyway. Got back to college and gave the car back.
Dang. Funny memory.
My first race car was a 76 Granada. I bought it at a bargain used car lot for $300. Drove it about 2 miles home and started gutting it that evening. Put in a roll cage, a fuel cell, and racing seat and belts. Then went racing. Fun times!
We had a small fleet of similar Granadas. I thought the styling was OK, the interiors were fine, and they had decent room. All these features were a vast improvement over the Maverick 4 doors.
Our fleet was all 6 cylinder. The gas mileage was poor, and their was no power. However, at that point in tme the US auto industry was trying to meet emmission control standards without fuel injection, and really failing.
True story. The Ford 6 of those years was a gas guzzler. The dashboard in my Granada developed annoying rattles that were unfixable because behind the dash one found a sea of cheap plastic parts all clamped together. If it hadn´t been for the rattles, I would have kept it because it was an ideal car for my wife to drive.
I remember always adding oil to these Ford sixes at the filling station I worked at in the late 70s.
Amazing how these cars were once everywhere, now you never see them.
The trick set up back in the day was to pull the complete rear axle out of the Lincoln Versailles as it was a 9 inch Ford with disc brakes…the very same setup I used in my Cobra replica.
There was an article published in one of the car magazines years ago entitled, “Rear end your Mustang”. It included all the part numbers needed as the Lincoln Versailles rear end was a direct bolt in to any Mustang up until 1970! Since I went with the Tilton brake pedal setup and dual master cylinders, I could adjust the bias pressure via balance bar for the independent front and rear brake circuits.
I have said article someplace in my files. Now if I could just remember where my files are?
30 years ago the self serve wrecking yards were full of these. I’ve got a disc brake setup to swap to my ’65 Mustang.
I own a 1979 Monarch with the 250 6 cylinder. This motor is better than the 302 and will deliver 26 MPG all day long. My 250 has out run 302’s several times and mine is a 4 door. The 302’s have a timing chain which stretches and the 302 hp is not much more than this 250. I have owned mine since 2003 and have had no issues.
Maybe you’re thinking of the Monarch ESS (European Sport Sedan) model? It had racing mirrors, blacked out (some, not all) trim, and the 14″ Magnum wheels or the 14″ lace type wheels similar to those seen earlier on the King Cobra for sale.
The heck with the 302, I want the rare Granada equipped with a 351. My friend worked in the Mahwah NJ plant as a driver in the mid 70’s and said it was a real tire burner.
This one?
https://barnfinds.com/rare-factory-sleeper-1975-ford-granada-351/
I remember looking at these when my folks were shopping to replace the family car. I really liked the look of the sedan. Then we looked at the Pontiac Phoenix which at the time, was the sister to the Nova and Omega. Ended up with the Phoenix 231 V6 4 door sedan. Now, a very rare bird…no pun intended. Both were awesome cars!
Actually, I believe the Pontiac you were referring to was the Ventura. The way I used to remember it back in the day was NOVA stood for Nova, Omega, Ventura, and Apollo. Basically the same car with different trim.
Nova was marketed by Chevrolet. The Omega by Oldsmobile. The Ventura by Pontiac and the Apollo by Buick.
Gosh what a beautiful car. Love the color combination. I know of several people who drove these. They were very good cars. One of my Buds. Had a black one. His had the 351 (5.8) engine.
I’m w/ Joe, Blueprint’n Tom – I;d rather the i6. Put one in my ’66 bronk as I liked the 170 so much (“no substitute for more cubes”). More tq than bent8 sim sz.
Just bought this guy’s ‘son’, nother fox (’78/04) but wagon. I lub ’em. To me? U drive on tq not HP (stop lght to stop lght). I run 1,500 RPM @ 240tq (155 HP stock) not sure where guys R gettin specs: https://www.mustangspecs.com/category/research/engine/250-thriftpower-six/
https://fordsix.com/ci/Tech.html
There’s a reason i6 ruled (europe, Japan, Oz, usa) 60, 80 yrs (agreed ‘&Y not here now’) but I’ll go widda advantages~