Ford · 1972–present

Ford Granada Europe

The European Ford Granada is an executive car manufactured by Ford Europe from 1972 until 1994. The first-generation model was produced from 1972 to 1976 at Ford's German factory in Cologne and at its British factory in Dagenham. In 1976, production switched entirely to Germany. The original version was replaced in 1977 by a second-generation model which was produced until 1985. From 1985 to 1994, the Granada name was used, in the United Kingdom and Ireland only, for a third-generation model which was sold in other European markets as the Ford Scorpio and in North America as the Merkur Scorpio.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Ford Zephyr · Successor: Ford Scorpio

All Ford Granada Europe data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Mark I (1972–1977)

Launched in March 1972, the Granada succeeded the British Ford Zephyr, and the German P7-series as Ford's European executive car offering, and completed the integration of Ford's British and German model ranges. At first, lower models in the range were called the Ford Consul. This may have been because of a lawsuit by Granada Group, a major British conglomerate of the time. However, their application for an injunction failed at appeal and they could not prevent Ford from registering the name Granada as a trademark Consequently, from 1975 on they were all called Granadas. The car soon became popular for taxi, fleet, and police use. It was also converted into limousine and hearse versions by the British companies Coleman Milne and Woodall Nicholson. Traditional four-door limousines were offered (both long and short versions) alongside an unusual four-door "coupé limousine" (of which only 12 examples were built), as well as hearses in either two- or four-door configurations. Mechanically, the British Granada conformed to Ford convention, the initial range using the Ford Essex V4 unit in 2.0 L displacement, and the Essex V6 engine in 2.5 and 3.0 L capacities. German models employed a Ford Taunus V4 engine in 1.7 L displacement, or the 3.0L Essex V6, or, more commonly the Cologne V6 in 2.0, 2.3, or 2.6 L capacities. The V4 engine option was short lived - and was later replaced by the in-line "Pinto" (TL-series) unit in 1974. The car generally followed the mechanical layout of its predecessors Ford Zephyr/Zodiac, using a coil-spring independent rear end, although front MacPherson struts were replaced by double wishbones, introduced 18 months earlier in smaller TC Cortina and Taunus. However, the Granada – like Ford 17M/20M/26M – featured drum brakes at rear, as opposed to the

Mark II (1977–1985)

The square and straight-lined Granada Mark II – known internally within Ford as "Granada 78" – was released in August 1977 (for the 1978 model year) and was produced until April 1985, following a mild facelift and attention to drivetrain noise, vibration, and harshness in 1981. The Mark II was essentially a reskin of the 1972 car, with new external panelwork that brought the Granada into line with Ford's new design language initiated by stylist Uwe Bahnsen, taking styling cues also used on the recently launched Cortina/Taunus Mk IV and Mk I Fiesta. Even non-Ford styling was considered: during the 1971 Geneva Motorshow, Bahnsen and Joe Oros, from the US Ford design team, fell in love with the Fiat 130 Coupé, a design by Paolo Martin of Pininfarina. The Ford design studios in Cologne-Merkenich, Germany, purchased a 130 Coupé, and Bahnsen told Patrick Le Quément, at the time in charge of the department Forward Design at Ford, to 'design a car looking just as good as this one'. Much of the Mark I bodywork was retained, such as inner door pressings – the curved uptick at the rear doors now disguised with black paint behind the horizontal chrome trim strip on the saloon – and the estate version effectively grafted the Mk II nose to the Mk I body, retaining the same panels as the old car aft of the A pillars. The engineering was very similar, the main differences being the "Cologne" V6 engine in 2.0, 2.3, and 2.8 L forms replacing the older "Essex" unit, and the introduction of features such as air conditioning and, for the top-priced 2.8-litre versions, fuel-injection. In mainland Europe, a 1.7 L V4 was originally available. By the time of its introduction, UK Granada production had been quietly abandoned "for some time"; UK market Granada IIs were imported from Germany. Inte

Mark III (1985–1994)

In April 1985, the third-generation car arrived, which was essentially a rebadged Ford Scorpio, the Granada name being used in both Ireland and the United Kingdom only, with the Scorpio badge (which covered the whole range in Continental Europe) being used instead as a trim designation for the top of the range models. The Mark III Granada used a stretched Sierra floorpan and suspension, and was the first European volume production model to have antilock brakes fitted as standard across the range. It was voted European Car of the Year in 1986. Engine options included the familiar SOHC Pinto engine, in either tax-barrier undercutting 1.8 L form, or a more powerful 2-litre version with fuel injection available. The Cologne V6 engines were carried over from the previous range in short-lived (and not much more powerful than the 2 L Pinto) 2.4 L, and 2.8 L (later 2.9 L) capacities. In 1991, a new range-topping vehicle was introduced, the Scorpio 24-valve. It featured a 2.9 L Cologne engine that had been extensively reworked by Cosworth Engineering and featured quad camshafts and 24 valves, enough for 200 bhp (150 kW). According to Ford, this gave a 0-60 mph time of 8.1 seconds and top speed of 140 mph (230 km/h). The Ford Granada Mk III was the last car to bear the Granada badge in the UK and Ireland, being replaced in 1994 with the pan-European Scorpio. The Scorpio shared its platform doors and roof with the Mk III Granada. The styling of the nose and tail sections were updated to match the ovoid designs being used across the Ford range in the 1990s. On the Scorpio, this resulted in a controversial design. After a 1998 redesign, it was taken out of production the same year with total European sales being 95,587 units.

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