Junkyard Find: Guess the Ghia!
Carrozzeria Ghia and Ford go way back, with the Ghia name getting slapped on everything from the Fiesta to the Barchetta. A few days back, I snapped this photograph in a Denver junkyard. What sort of car do you think we’re looking at here?
What else could it be but a Granada? And not the effete European Granada; this is the type of Granada that taught me everything I needed to know about the Malaise Era.
Such luxury! It’s too bad that Ford never made a Cartier Continental Ghia.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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I didn't recognise the badge, but I knew from the sun-striated vinyl and vague memory of '70s trim levels that it had to be a Granada. Seeing Murilee's nom de plume may have influenced my mindset, of course.
Was gonna inflict #1 son with a Fairmont for a first car.. But it was just too far gone. I had a free Granada in the wings for a spare, but never needed it. Every so often, I will see one in my travels. If kept up, they look pretty spiffy. I often lusted for the 80s LTD/ Marquis. De smogged now, they prolly run fairly sweet. Good explanation about using old standard parts to keep costs down. Spot on. But they weren't supposed to last. They fulfilled their mission well. Chrysler pretty much did the same with the Dart.. Diplomat devolution. Come to think of it, My Fords were that same brown as the pic.