Question of the Day: Is the Ford Granada "The Worst Car Detroit Ever Built?"
U.S. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama recently called the Ford Granada "the worst car Detroit ever built," providing us with his answer to a question that every American pistonhead asks himself at least once in a while. The Free Republic has its own list of "worst American cars" including such luminaries as the Chrysler TC by Maserati and the Chevette. MSNBC's poll of automotive excreta lists the Vega as the worst ever. But Obama's busy with campaigning, and it's been a long time since the Illinois Senator learned to drive in his grandfather's Granada. So, the question goes over to you, the Best and Brightest. Has a nastier hunk of metal than the "tin foil" Granada rolled off Detroit's production lines? I'd say the Caddy Cimarron should be up there, but then the Volare/Aspen twins have to be in the running too. Worst ever? I'll say the X-body Chevy Citation. What say you?
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The Granada had the most ludicrous advertising I have ever seen. I remember a Ford ad in a magazine around 1978 comparing the Granada to the Mercedes 300SD. The ad showed them both parked in the driveway some rich guy's mansion, with rich guy explaining how he drove the Merc and bought his wife a Granada (I bet that marriage lasted) because they were so comparable: "The kids call it 'Mama's Mercedes!'". I was about nine years old at the time and loved all cars, but even I found this scarcely credible. My parents owned a Dart in the late 70s and it was great for them, solid and reliable and they didn't challenge its dynamic limitations. In the 80s I was given a Pinto van, which was somewhat interesting to look at with its fishbowl windows, but horrid to drive and terribly unreliable - it went to the junkyard before it reached 70k miles.
Actually, the Grenada/Monarch weren't the worst cars, from a mechanical standpoint, of that era. The honor (or shame) of the worst car would go to the Pinto and Vega. Mustang II? Pretty sound, mechanically, but unfortunately, and a brave step in downsizing the vehicle when it had gotten bigger and heavier over the years, but in terms of image and impression, perhaps didn't live up to the expectations of the original Pony car.
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