Mark I (1972–77)

The Consul/Granada range was announced to the public in April 1972 and was well received by the motoring press and public alike. Saloons and estate cars offered initially a choice of 2.5 & 3.0 litre V6 Dagenham built engines. The 2.5 litre engine was confined to the Consul model from September 1972. From April 1973 all models in the Consul / Granada range were fitted with power steering as standard. Top speed ranged from 92mph (150kmh) to 113mph (180kmh) with the 3.0 litre models capable of 0-60 mph in 9 seconds. In 1975 , the Consul name was dropped in favour of Granada.

INTERIORS

The Consul badge was given to less expensive, lower specification variants and although the body-shell was basically the same, trim details such as headlamps, radiator grille, boot and side panel trims, bumper styling and, of course, badging helped to differentiate the models.

The Consul was equipped as standard with front bucket seats, and a well contoured rear seat. The Consul featured a central floor mounted remote control gear shift. The speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges had black non reflecting dials.

The dashboard contained an open shelf on the passenger side with a lockable glove box underneath - the whole dashboard, instrument panel and bulkhead area ahead of the driver and passenger being cushioned for safety.

The 'L' pack available on the Consul offered special seats, loop pile carpet colour keyed to the interior, vanity mirror, heated rear screen, clock and trip mileage recorder. A 'GT' or 'Rallye' pack option was also available. This included a larger engine, uprated suspension, sports road wheels and steering wheel, black grille and halogen driving lamps.

The Granada received more expensive and luxurious interior refinements and was more comprehensively equipped. It was also the first European Ford production car to carry the Turin coachbuilders luxury specification 'Ghia' badge. Extra sound deadening material was built into the Granada providing even greater insulation from extraneous noise.

Instrumentation included a rev counter, oil pressure gauge and ammeter in addition to the standard instrumentation found on the Consul. A larger central console incorporated a glove compartment with padded lid and rear passengers had their own ventilation system. The 'GXL' incorporated many additional refinements - including tinted glass throughout and a steel sliding sunroof.

A major refinement of both Consul and Granada was the multi-purpose switch on the steering column, which gave fingertip control for the main and dipped headlight beam, flasher, direction indicators and two speed wipers. A foot button controlled the wipers and washers for intermittent action.

COLOURS

The Consul/Granada range was available in 8 flat colours, 6 metallic colours and black.
  MORE...

NEW ENGINES

A new 2.0 litre overhead camshaft engine was added to the range in April 1975 and in October of that year, the Granada 'Base' and 'L' and 'S' models replaced the Consul range. A special economy 'sonic idle' 2.0 litre engine replaced the previous version in February 1976 followed by th 3.0 litre 'L' saloon variant in September.

Despite the World Oil Crisis in 1973/74, the Granada's appeal took it to peak production in 1976 by which time it had achieved over 850,000 sales in Europe.