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Big fan of the old blue collar barge. Carlton, Rover 800, Granada, Renault 25, Volvo 740, Peugeot 505, Citroen CX/XM and Toyota Camry. Dad cars, family workhorses without the snobbish badge and brick hard suspension and stupid fat wheels.
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The Queen said that ww2 veterans would recognise the uk now. I wonder if they'd understand peoples obsession with having Wehrmacht staff cars in every garage? Mercs, BMW, Auto Unions etc. I think they'd wonder where all the Austin s have gone. its been an astonishing few decades of change.
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Well said. Same goes for the Japanese cars!
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The Queen said that ww2 veterans would recognise the uk now. I wonder if they'd understand peoples obsession with having Wehrmacht staff cars in every garage? Mercs, BMW, Auto Unions etc. I think they'd wonder where all the Austin s have gone. its been an astonishing few decades of change.
Wasn't the Granada made in Germany? I was told the Sierra I had here was, though I dunno if that was true.
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The Queen said that ww2 veterans would recognise the uk now. I wonder if they'd understand peoples obsession with having Wehrmacht staff cars in every garage? Mercs, BMW, Auto Unions etc. I think they'd wonder where all the Austin s have gone. its been an astonishing few decades of change.
Wasn't the Granada made in Germany? I was told the Sierra I had here was, though I dunno if that was true.
ISTR some were, and some of the engines too.
I really liked the idea of the original Sweeney Consul 3000GT, which many thought was a Granada.
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I had a mk1 Granada, 3 litre estate, my first big car, lovely old thing, bought it a few months before my 21st birthday only to discover I couldn't insure it until I was 21....sat on my mum's drive until the big day..
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Wasn't the Granada made in Germany? I was told the Sierra I had here was, though I dunno if that was true.
There was a period where models with very similar bodies and specifications were built at both Dagenham and in Germany. However they had different engines, electrics etc.
My Father had a couple of relatively early UK models (L and P reg). One of them, I think the L, had an alternator issue while we were on holiday in France. The electrics were Lucas or Smiths and parts bore only a passing similarity to the Bosch spares the local dealer could supply/source. They did a cobble that got us home though.
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Wasn't the Granada made in Germany? I was told the Sierra I had here was, though I dunno if that was true.
Our Sierra was made in Belgium, IIRC.
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The Queen said that ww2 veterans would recognise the uk now. I wonder if they'd understand peoples obsession with having Wehrmacht staff cars in every garage? Mercs, BMW, Auto Unions etc. I think they'd wonder where all the Austin s have gone.
If the royals had devoted as much time and enthusiasm to automotive as they did to equine performance, we might have done better. In the 1960s my father, a GP, whose brother was killed by Germans, needed a reliable small car which could live outside and always start first time, day or night, in all weathers and never break down. He bought a small German people's car which, unlike its English predecessors, did the business.
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Dad cars, family workhorses without the snobbish badge and brick hard suspension and stupid fat wheels.
Not sure about the hard suspension, SLO, but now that cars are much heavier and drivers expect to go faster, I don't think they would stick to the road if the wheels weren't pretty fat ? So ungainly, yes, but perhaps not stupid.
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I really liked the idea of the original Sweeney Consul 3000GT, which many thought was a Granada.
Yes, hence the title of the thread!. But even if the Sweeney car was a Granada, that would have been a MK1 which looked quite different to the 1983 MK2 model mentioned.
Actually one of my customers has a MK1 Granada. Don't see it very often though as he spends most of the year abroad working, only seems to come home in the holidays.
Not sure about the hard suspension, SLO, but now that cars are much heavier and drivers expect to go faster, I don't think they would stick to the road if the wheels weren't pretty fat ? So ungainly, yes, but perhaps not stupid.
Not sure i agree. For one, the speed limit is exactly the same now as it was during the MK1 Granny's day. Drivers certainly expect to drive faster, but that is because combination of things: ever higher (needlessly so) power outputs + the motoring press telling them that both more power and sportier handling is the best + drivers these days, on the whole, drive much more aggressively + drivers these days, on the whole, having no patience.
If cars had softer suspension and narrower wheels, would that not increase the overall driving standards?.
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The Mk1 Granada is a car I remember well. As a car-mad boy aged 9, I nagged my father into buying a new one in 1977. It turned out to be the worst car we ever had (and not only because we mistakenly bought it only months before the model change).
Only a 2.0 manual, but it averaged only 24mpg in easy rural driving. The camshaft had to be replaced twice in the 3 years we had it and the timing belt broke (causing a breakdown but no damage) after year 2 (I'll never know whether that was due to a poor camshaft replacement procedure by the main dealer).
The metallic paint chipped terribly off the lower doors and the drivetrain clunked on changing gear.
We never bought another Ford car.
Incidentally, and in answer to the question above, it was made in W Germany.
Edited by jthan on 10/05/2020 at 21:04
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No need to worry about Ford quality any longer . They are making ventilators for the NHS .
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No need to worry about Ford quality any longer . They are making ventilators for the NHS .
As long as Land Rover don't start making them.
People will really want them, but they will break down, a lot!
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A lot of the old Granadas went for banger racing;the bottom of the Scorpio model range was still called Granada.
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the bottom of the Scorpio model range was still called Granada.
Not entirely correct.
The Scorpio name was introduced as a top of the range trim level on the MK3 Granda, above the Ghia, but as such, was called the 'Granda Scorpio'.
For the heavy facelift in 1994 (which saw the introduction of the controversial bug eyed headlamps), the Granada name was discontinued altogether in favour of Scorpio, which came in three trim levels, Executive, Ghia, and Ultima.
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For the heavy facelift in 1994 (which saw the introduction of the controversial bug eyed headlamps), the Granada name was discontinued altogether in favour of Scorpio, which came in three trim levels, Executive, Ghia, and Ultima.
Must rank as one of the ugliest cars ever made?
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Friend had one those ugly ones 2.4 Scorpio money pit.
Late 80's worked at a defence electronics company. Three directors had identical Granada Ghia 2.8i X models all same colour silver mink except MD's was estate. Believe it or not one was kept as pool car. Just after borrowed it to go to London from Yorks . Brilliant a/c and everything sat there on the M25 on a hot sunny day . Just below Sheffield on M1 in outside lane at xxx mph saw police car coming down slip road lights on. Oops pulled over into middle lane. Volvo estate came flying past and they went after him :) . xx
Also in a previous have driven the Scorpio 24V. Worked @ Cosworth on the engine. Looking back that FB engine was a waste of money for what it was, over complicated and that huge aluminium casting of an inlet manifold. Car drove well though. Don't even mention the farce of the chain tensioners.
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A senior colleague of mine got a Granada 2.0 in about 1985. It was one of the first mass produced cars to have ABS braking as standard. We were chatting to a police driver one day at a service area. He was admiring the car and called it the 'Magnetic Bumper Car'. When asked to explain he said the ABS enabled the Granada to stop quickly and safely but the car behind maybe could not, hence the 'Magnetic Bumper'. A police joke methinks. However it was a nice car to drive and a good family bus. The ABS was not used in anger either.
Cheers Concrete
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I just wish we could see softer suspension being a norm. Our roads and speed bumps desperately need a softer approach. My parents had a Peugeot 504 and a Citroen BX and suspect both would be vastly more comfortable than any current family car.
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