The Granada was launched in 1975 as something of a “senior” compact to the economy-minded Maverick and the mid-size Torino. It was produced across two generations until 1982 when it was replaced by a mid-size version of the Ford LTD. The seller’s ’78 edition, a Ghia 2-door sedan, may be one of the nicest examples left with a scant 25,000 miles on the odometer. Other than the factory air conditioning needing a shot of freon this automobile may require nothing else. Located in Kennewick, Washington, this Granada is being offered here on craigslist by its only owner since 2008 and for $8,500.
Though you seldom run across a Granada today, more than two million of them were produced over its eight-year run. It would spawn the Monarch at Mercury and the Versailles at Lincoln. In positioning the Granada as something of a luxury compact, they borrowed the name from Ford of Europe who was using it on their flagship model. While a six-cylinder engine was standard in the new Ford, you could opt for the tried-and-true 302 cubic-inch V8 with an automatic transmission, the same set-up that’s in the seller’s apparently pristine example.
From what we can tell, this Ford has been a resident of Washington State all its life. It may have had as few as two owners and neither of them drove it very often (25,000 miles in 45 years is a drop in the bucket). As the car has been lightly used, some of the parts have been replaced recently due to age, such as the shocks and brakes. We’re told it drives like a dream, something you would expect from a time capsule piece. It looks as though the body, light blue paint, white vinyl top, and dark blue interior are all up to snuff. Just have your mechanic to check out the A/C and then get ready to ride.
That’s a lot of car for only $8500. IMHO. Drive it and enjoy it. Introduce yourself to the hobby in something sure to start conversations everywhere you go.
Car was featured June 10.
Very nice shape, and as KC John notes, something once common now rarely seen which will start fun conversations.
Right Bob. ✅️
I said then Gorgeous Granada Ghia, in robin egg 🥚 🐦 blue.
Only improvement could’ve been the standard 4sp stick with the Granada.
Whoever buys it will have to find themself a matching powder-blue suit with white belt and shoes.
I doubt the prom tuxedo I rented that color is available and would still fit.
I actually had a boss/business partner/friend/ teacher/mentor,(whew)back in 1988 or so in Virginia. He was from Massachusetts and was a top notch auto body man, he had actually worked with GEORGE BARRIS!! He had plaques and pictures, lots of car shows they had entries in. But, back to the suit, Joe, my partner, gets a call from one of George’s old clients about a Ford granada,1978 I’m almost positive, baby blue, had a high performance 302, 3 speed in the floor, bucket seats, factory tach, special trims, and it was badged a’ FRANKLIN COUNTY COUPE’. Now, we di have a Franklin county here, MOONSHINE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, TRUE, but we’d never heard of any Franklin county couple. Well, we decided to buy it and have it shipped to Virginia, we had a contractor that delivered cars for us, we found and bought old drop top chevys and put the hydraulic systems in, do all undercarriage work, suspension and build the engines and transmissions and everything else but the stereos. We get the car, it’s immaculate, baby blue, white vinyl top, it had a fiberglass hood with a working or open tear drop or bubble scoop, like the Ford THUNDERBOLTS USED, Hurst shifter, magnum 500 rims, had a set of chrome ladder bars on it, you only saw the bottoms of them a little to the front of the rear tires before they angled up to the frame rails. You could see the white hooker headers from the side view and if you stood in the distance and looked straight at it, you could see the deep oil pan and the headers on each side. It was a sweet car, I drove it twice, scared the crap out of me on the second one, that car was so hard launching, I almost lost a couple times. Anyway, about 3 months after we got it and Joe called me one day said his wife got her car accident settlement and I could have the body shop and he’d have the lawyer draw up everything to make me sole owner, he paid off all our new spray booth loan, new 30K frame machine, all tools, car inventory, the whole nine.Never saw him again, kept up with him through friends here, mainly supply vendors since he opened up in Massachusetts again, but before I could ask about that coupe, he passed, it was in the inventory, but I’ve not seen it. But the day he took that car home to his wife, she went out and bought hom a powder blue suit and dated him to wear it and a white cowboy hat for a weekend, his crazy self did it, all over, flea markets, yard sales, golden corral, I only saw one picture of him leaning against the driver’s door with a cigarette in one hand and a toothpick in his teeth. RIP JOE, I miss your yankee ass. Sorry about the rambling, my time with this man was priceless.
Yeah. I’ve not seen one for a long time. I had a 76 with a 351W. I liked that car.
Nothing to not like here except personal taste items. Me? I’d want 4 doors and cloth but there’s nothing to scare away the right buyer.
These cars looked so depressing to me as a kid, I think it’s the taillights. Kind of made me think of it as the Eyore of the automotive world. They look like a nice entry level classic to me now, this one is very appealing, looks sharp, clean and priced reasonably.
My buddies mom had a red 78 Monarch with a white vinyl top and red buckets no console and a 4 speed. Her husband bought it for her and she hated rowing thru the gears.She wanted auto and he wanted a 4 speed for the occasional times he drove it.This car is real nice and priced right.I think these used a power steering assist valve like the old Corvettes and Impalas pre 65.Worked on a lot of em.Haven’t seen one in the wild in decades.
Why do I like this car so much ??
Because it is super clean, nice dual exhaust, baby blue – but seller needs to say hey this is the estimate i got on the AC $$ repair because that will be expensive and tie you up in the shop.
Or while having car inspected get an estimate.
Take a breath before you buy. Ask questions.
Always like these, A change from all the Mustangs. Had a friend in High School got one new 1975. He build the SNOT out of it and slipped a Lincoln Versailles rear end under it so it had 4 wheel disk. It would GO and WOO. Shocked a lot of people
I purchased a 78 Monarch for my wife since I couldn’t convince her to get a Honda. That was my biggest mistake purchasing a car. We had problems almost from day 1 until we got rid of it and she agreed to try the Accord (1980)… and we stayed with Honda until our recent purchase of a 2020 Outback… I still have my 96 Honda hatchback. I would never look at a Ford product from this time period.
You might know my dad. Je traded in a Monarch for an ’80 Accord Hatchback in Homestead, Fla. Took it too Germany and Sacramento, then I drove it to college in Texas and introduced it to a Suburban in ’91…
Obviously a Honda lover ; when both these cars were out, it was clear which was made of steel and the other beer cans ; those Hondas rusted horribly , at least here on the East Coast . We used to get these in the salvage yard I worked at in the early 80s ; usually the whole engine cradle was rotted away on them . They also had cheap plastic interiors . You couldn’t give me one of that era Hondas
Yeah, every once in a while I get the urge to check out an ‘80 Accord, and every time I look a little deeper and then back away slowly…
Remember the center piece of the rear taillights on these? More often than not, it was broken and hanging by a metal spring. Not a good look.
That was common with Granada’s of that era. They made a kit with a better hinge to repair it. I remember that as I helped a neighbor install one.
Nice car. Where are the Ghia badges that are supposed to be on C pillar? Badges? We need the stinkin badges.
Maggy, you are correct about the power steering as this car is basically a Torino/Mustang underneath. Which is what makes this car appealing to me. I saw a 2 door model recently that had wider wheels and tires (tastefully done) it was lowered maybe an inch and had the front and rear bumpers tucked in closed to the ends of the car. It was quite impressive looking. It would need Mustang suspension upgrade goodies, modify the upper control arm mounts, a 5.0 and an AOD transmission (stolen from a Mark VII?) to make this a very nice car. With the price of the car and the mods., you could have a very nice car for under $20,000. Not to mention a conversation piece.
In ’78 I bought ’75 Granada Ghia 4 door in light green with darker green vinyl top from a friend. 302, and a manual 3 speed on the floor. Great car, good long distance cruiser. Inexpensive ’cause he didn’t like the manual. I loved it. These cars were unjustly villified.
Granadas & Monarchs were the time capsule that when found, need to be reburied for another 50 years.
Same proven platform they used for many years, from the Falcon to the Granada . You may not like them, but they were a dependable good size car
Nice car, at least in my state I can remove all the emissions chocking garbage and gain 10+ horsepower
My dad bought a 78 2-door Granada Ghia and engine problems started on the way home from the dealership (no lie). It had a column mounted automatic and one day the lever came loose out of the column. To change gears you just picked it up off the seat, stuck it back in the column, and pulled it up or down as necessary. I don’t think he got to 100,000 miles on it. He would buy Fords, then switch to GM, and then back to Ford. The GM’s usually were the better car. I’ve driven a lot of Fords as rentals, but I never bought one, and I stayed loyal to GM or Chrysler until my last car when I finally went Japanese.
100k on a car back then was pretty good – I’m assuming he didnt buy the car new as I’m sure Ford could have put a roll pin in the column to fix that issue
After I got married in 1978 and left home, my Dad bought a new 78 Morarch 4 door. He kept it over 10 years, over 100,000 miles, never did anything but normal maintenance. They were good dependable transportation if you took care of them. The two door version looked pretty good, especially the ESS version.