TOP OF THE RANGE
It’s 1982, and you’ve just been awarded your own marked bay in the company car park. To fill it, you’re presented with the epitome of senior-management status: a Ford Granada, in Ghia trim, of course. Big V6 engine. Power-assisted steering. Electric windows. Chunky Chatsworth velour upholstery. And, most important of all, fake wood cappings on the dashboard.
Only the managing director has a better machine: a similarly grand Granada but wearing a Ghia X badge on the boot lid, denoting air conditioning and electrically-adjustable front seats.
Among the firm’s fleet is a sea of Vauxhalls, Austins and lesser Fords; the likes of Audi and BMW are nowhere to be seen. Here, over the last decade, the Granada has become a household name. It’s starred in TV cop shows. It’s been the transport of VIPs. And it’s available from the same dealerships as a lowly Fiesta Popular.
Back when Uncle Henry was the hero of pre-brand-obsessed Great Britain, the Granada was the undisputed king. Yet in the 2000s there’s no Ford executive saloon, and even the upper-mid-sized Mondeo meets its demise in 2022. Are we back to the Blue Oval’s UK origins, when the Model Y was the firm’s first fully European car?
PILOT PROJECT
Ford’s cheap and humble machines were joined in 1947 by the V8 Pilot – a large four-door saloon featuring a flathead V8 engine. The
