HERITAGE: Granada Ghia
Ford heritage: The Mk2 helped forge a new identity for Ford, wooing customers with a mix of discreet styling and solid design. This Ghia still turns heads for all the right reasons today.
Early Mk2 2.8i is a sight for sore eyes.
For many of us of a certain vintage — in other words of an age to recall The Goodies the first time around — the debut of the Mk2 Granada in September 1977 was quite a significant event. A Ghia in metallic Oyster Gold dominated the front cover of Ford’s October brochure of that year, the highlight of their Autumn Collection. Inside, the copy promised ‘a superb blend of performance, comfort, safety, economy, reliability — and good looks.’ Today, Phil Bosher, owner of the car pictured here, would regard this as not so much hyperbole, but more as a statement of fact. In the late 1970s, sales of large cars represented approximately 25 per cent of the European car market, and it was essential for the Mk2 to build on the success of the Mk1. The original model had replaced the Mk4 Zephyr/Zodiac in 1972, and the motoring writer Michael Tee observed at the time: ‘I would say that a lot of Ford’s racing know-how has gone into the new Granada, to make their business-man’s express a that much better road car.’
It seemed that the public agreed, and in five years Mk1 sales approached 850,000.
At one point, Ford considered introducing the second-generation model in 1975, but a smart facelift of the Mk1 line-up extended its lifespan. When it did finally arrive, the Mk2 was similar in dimensions to its predecessor, but it boasted a choice of new engines — augmenting the familiar 2-litre Pinto unit was a 2.1-litre diesel option — a first on the Granada and not a big seller — along with Cologne-designed V6s in 2.3-litre, 2.8-litre and 2.8-litre Bosch K-Jetronic forms instead of the previous Essex units. There was also a very attractive estate, but while a two-door
saloon was available in certain territories, there was no successor to the Mk1 Granada Coupé.
The Ghia combined the 2.8-litre V6 with Borg Warner C3 automatic transmission, and Phil’s Granada features the injected engine. The launch of the Mk2 meant the Essex 3-litre V6 was now found only in the Capri Mk2 and the Transit — the 2994cc motor had been associated with upmarket British Fords since 1966, but it was no longer suited to post-1973 Fuel Crisis petrol bills. Furthermore, as the Granada was made in Germany — UK production ceased in 1976 to allow space for the Fiesta — there seemed little economic sense in shipping parts from Dagenham.
Ford sold the Granada in its now-familiar hierarchy. The L came with a laminated screen and a MW/LW radio, while the GL represented the next rung on the corporate ladder with its sliding roof, power-assisted steering and remote control driver’s door mirror. Twin driving lamps denoted the S, while the diesel was ideal for minicab operators and was so miserably appointed that it was even devoid of halogen headlamps, a rear folding armrest and a clock.
By contrast, the Ghia was the Granada for anyone who knew his/her way around the Golden Egg menu. Dearborn had acquired Carrozzeria Ghia in January 1973, and a year later the shield badge appeared on a new top-of-range Granada Mk1. Previous flagship British Fords had worn Executive logos since 1965, but in the late 1970s the name Ghia had come to denote the sort of motorist who generally appreciated the good things in life and who strode through the office car park like a minor Colossus. It also inferred a realm of the Jet Set, taking their ease in Paris or Rome as opposed to a weekend break in Swanage.
As befitting a car costing £6747 (or £6974 with the injected engine), Ford equipped the latest Granada Ghia with tinted glass, alloy wheels and a radio-cassette player complete with an electric antenna. The real talking points were the central door locking and the electric front windows at a time when the entry-level Fiesta listed ‘Tailgate with twin gas struts opening from floor level’ as a sales feature. By 1979 the specification included front fog lights, headlamp washers and electric rear windows. Our feature car is also fitted with the optional air conditioning and leather upholstery, which Phil believes really suits the interior.
“FORD EQUIPPED THE GHIA WITH TINTED GLASS AND ALLOY WHEELS”
BMW chaser
Phil’s car is a reminder that a Ghia targeted motorists who aspired to ownership of a W123 Mercedes or a 5-Series BMW, but who lacked the necessary overdraft facilities. It is easy to forget that such fine machines were rarely sighted on British roads in the late 1970s. At the time of the Mk2’s debut, even a Mercedes 200 would have set you back £5650, while the 280E was listed at £8951 and the BMW 528 at £7449. At the unveiling of the Mk2, Ford emphasised the low running costs of their Granada and that a Ghia presented a reasonably priced alternative to a Mercedes-Benz or BMW with barely any loss of social standing.
When William Boddy of Motor Sport tested the 2.8iS version in 1978, he concluded: ‘I would not necessarily rate this fine new Granada as a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW eater so much as a most acceptable luxury car in its own right.’ A Ford that was ‘not in any way ostentatious, but which will go to 117 mph if you let it’ was precisely what many buyers demanded. Equally importantly, the Ghia’s cabin with its wooden door cappings (although the fascia was clad in simulated woodgrain) and Verona/Crushed Velour seat trim epitomised discreet good taste. So much so that Ford claimed: ‘When you settle behind the wheel of the new Granada you
immediately get a feeling of well-being.’ The Mk2’s lines were primarily due to Uwe Bahnsen’s appointment as Ford’s Vice President of Design. Under his stewardship, the company’s output moved away from midAtlantic stylistic tropes towards a more consciously low-key appearance. The very svelte looks of LNF 514V represent extensive research undertaken at clinics in the UK, Germany and the USA. Bahnsen and his team aimed to create a car that anticipated the 1980s and, as Motor noted: ‘would carry the identity of the new generation of European Fords.’
By 1979 the Granada was the seventh best-selling car in the UK, and in the following year Autocar described the Granada as ‘the large family or business car to which most others are compared.’ They also added that the Mk2 ‘once and for all allowed Ford to rid itself of its former rather down-market image.’ The range was constantly updated before its replacement by the Mk3 in 1985, and those updates included the creation of the Ghia X and the Ghia X Executive.
Room to improve
LNF 514V is one of the few first-generation models constructed prior to the £50 million facelift of September 1981. Phil acquired the Ghia back in May 2001, and notes: “It was my first Mk2 Series I, though I’d previously owned a Mk1 Coupé and four Mk2 Series IIs. The condition was good, but with a lot of room for improvement. One issue was a slight bit of rust in one of the sills, but the interior was in a very good state.”
Naturally, the Ghia frequently receives looks of admiration or envy. This is partially because of the distinctive Cirrus Red paint finish — which was only offered for about a year — but mainly because it is a prime example of one of Ford’s great cars.
“The public love seeing it at shows and out on the street,” says Phil. “Most people can relate to a Granada, saying ‘I had one of those and it was the best car I ever owned” or ‘My dad had one and he wished he never sold it’.”
As a long-term Granada enthusiast, Phil thinks the Essex engine has more torque from standstill, but he describes the Cologne unit as “lovely, especially at cruising speeds. The most enjoyable aspect of owning a Mk2
Granada is cruising along the coast where we live, the sound of the V6 purring away and seeing the smiles on people’s faces as we pass by.” He says it always puts a smile on his face too, and it is indeed a marvellous vehicle. It was the car that bridged the gap between the twilight of the flared trousers and the rise of the Yuppie, and yet it is testament to the design that it did not look dated even at the end of its run.
“FORD CREATED A CAR THAT ANTICIPATED THE 1980s”