Ford Granada (1977) – Into the Wild

It also surprised us somewhat, but it seems that the Ford Granada Mk1 has never appeared in ‘In the Wild’ before. The Granada Mk2 several times, as a weathered pre-facelift, with the thickest engine, a very late one and one that its owner has to share with a classic Fiesta. So now it’s high time to send a Mk1 onto the stage.

If we enter the license plate, we get to see a Granada Mk2, but that’s because the database is confused by the year of manufacture. It is in fact an original Dutch Granada Kombi from 1977 and that was the year in which the Mk2 took over from the Mk1. So we have one of the last primal Granadas in front of us here, thanks to AutoWeek forum member JFR. It looks like the owner was using the Granada for a fun outing at the time of shooting, as it appears to be in a parking lot for an event somewhere. This Granada is therefore probably not only out for beautiful summer rides.

That does not mean that it is not handled neatly: the Granada is still pretty tight in its – wonderfully typical for that period – dark and light brown two-tone paintwork. The vinyl on the roof also still looks neat. All in all it is a classy appearance and that is also true with the implementation: it is a 2.6 GL. So in the nose was the second thickest engine, a V6 that was also delivered with 2.8 liters of displacement. As a 2.6, it was good for 114 hp, with which the fairly hefty Granada accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 12.4 seconds and reached a top speed of 172 km/h.

Nowadays anything but impressive, especially for a V6 of that size, very fine at the time. Speed ​​wasn’t a big deal either: the Granada had to be a versatile, comfortable and spacious car for those who had it right. With a Granada in front of the door you still radiated a certain amount of success. Even today it is still a nice appearance, only now mainly because you don’t see them very much anymore. This one has been with its current owner since 2019, who is only the third owner!