1987 Granada Scorpio 2.9 (Ford Granada/Scorpio)

Name: slackjack

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Product:	Ford Granada/Scorpio
Date:	13/06/01 (2764 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable, Quick, Toys!

Disadvantages: Thirstier than a Fiesta

Having spent too much money getting my old Capri shiny and rust free, I then got scared about having to leave the thing outside, open to the effects of vandals, the weather, and the gritting lorry that seem to enjoy pebble dashing it at least three times every night throughout the winter. So I started to keep an eye out for something else to drive while the Capri could languish in it’s warm, dry garage. The problem was that the Capri was such fun that I couldn’t really think of anything else I’d rather drive. So when my father decided it was time to buy himself a new car, and found his old Granada to be worth approximately the square root of naff all on a trade-in the problem was solved for me, and I’m rather pleased with the result.

The Granada in question is a 1987 Scorpio 2.9i hatchback. It’s benefited from having some good owners – Ford themselves ran it for a while, before it’s next owner, who kept the service history stamped for the next 8 years until it came into my father’s ownership. Admittedly by this age, plenty of Granadas have had heaps of owners, and most likely have been thrashed mercilessly, but you could strike lucky. When it came to me, it had only covered 88,000 miles, which I hope should hardly be a problem for it’s gargantuan 2.9 V6 engine. It’s got all the toys – automatic gearbox (4 speed for better economy), power steering, anti-lock brakes, central locking, alarm, heated front windscreen, electric windows, sunroof and seats (even the back seats can move around at the push of a button, and the front ones heat up), cruise control, air conditioning, headlamp washers, fuel computer, and a clever clock with built an stopwatch and a sensor giving the outside temperature. About the only thing missing is leather seats, but hey, I can’t be that fussy. Probably through neglect the air conditioning no longer does it’s thing, which is a shame, but the cost o
f fixing it is out of the question for such a luxury – besides, I’ve been told I’m saving fuel by having the pump disconnected. The fancy original Ford stereo with separate graphic equaliser refused to use the right hand speakers when playing cassettes, but the 80’s vintage hi-fi would have been first in line for replacement with a bit of Sony RDS trickery anyway. Apart from that, the only problem is an occasionally sticky rev counter – something I was a little puzzled about the usefulness of on an automatic anyway.

The styling probably isn’t to everyone’s taste, but really it’s fairly middle of the road (with maybe a slight aggressive edge) and easy to live with. The liberal amounts of plastic swathed around the outside aren’t pretty, but are practical in a car park, and it has plenty of bits of chrome and alloy wheels (and even an alloy spare) to tart it up a little.

So anyway, to the business end – living with the thing. Well, first impressions after driving pretty much any bread and butter motor (me having driven a succession of Fiestas and the like, but especially after driving a Capri, a design largely unchanged since 1969) are that it’s just wonderful, so big – superb for a big family and all their shopping - comfortable and full of nice features – silly things like lights in the footwells and the doors and useful things like warning lights that tell you if an exterior light bulb has failed, or if it may be frosty of icy outside. Visibility is superb all round and although the car is vast the amount of glass means that negotiating car parks and the like is no problem at all. An automatic gearbox was a new thing for me, but it’s easy to be lazy, and it soon became second nature. The size of the engine made fuel consumption a bit of a worry, so I’ve been fairly gentle with the accelerator, but I’ve obviously had to experiment, and when you wa
nt it to go, by golly does it go. Flooring it from a junction makes it take off like a rocket, the auto box holding right back on it’s changes, the engine emitting something of a head turning roar. On the open road flooring the accelerator will make the gearbox kick down a gear giving it plenty of overtaking power. On the motorway it’ll cruise at 80mph at ridiculously low revs. Admittedly it’s not exactly nimble but it always gets around the corners in the end with a satisfying squeal of rubber. Driving this sort of car kind of changes your driving style a little anyway, it’s more of a cruiser than a racer.

Giving the car a good thrashing does however bring your attention to the fuel computer. It’s a clever little box of tricks. A push of a button makes the small digital display cycle between estimated current fuel consumption, average fuel consumption, fuel used (since you last reset the counter) and miles remaining – all in your choice of metric or imperial. Useful as this is, it can be something of a distraction. Leaving it set to current fuel consumption is nothing short of comical – lurching from 0mpg with the pedal floored to 99mpg as you let off, as the computer struggles in vain to keep up with you. The range setting can be just as disturbing. The computer will knock a mile of your estimated range about every thirty seconds for the first few minutes of your journey until it settles down. A long steady journey will often see you arriving at your destination with more estimated miles in your tank than when you set off. Nevertheless, it’s a useful little tool, even it can be a bit of a distraction. Overall on a mix of town and open road driving I reckon I’m getting about 25mpg, which isn’t really any worse than my old 1.6 Capri, but with an awful lot more ‘go’, and certainly can’t be complained about with an engine of that size.

It’s a pretty well p
ut together old thing, the odd squeak from bits of the interior, but nothing too irritating, and nothing but the odd speck of surface rush here and there. It’s solid too – three times since I’ve known it I’ve seen people attempt to part it with one of it’s door mirrors, the result being a solid ‘thunk’ as the Granada’s mirror springs back into place unscathed, and a shower of glass as the aggressors mirror disintegrates.

At the moment I can’t speak for parts costs – I know my father hasn’t had to spend a fortune on it, and that’s in an ownership that’s seen new radiator, petrol tank, rear brake discs and sundry other bits and pieces. I do know that I didn’t think that £35 didn’t seem too much to ask for a new tyre.

So as it stands I’m loving it. I keep finding new toys (if you’ve got the windscreen wipers on and select reverse, it thoughtfully turns on the back wiper) which adds to the fun. If something expensive (i.e. the engine or gearbox) breaks it’ll be a different story, but then I’ll probably just throw it away. I realise I’m talking from the vantage point of having got the car for nothing, but a similar (or even a newer) Granada really shouldn’t set you back more than 800 quid or a grand and to be honest I’d rather buy another one every year if need be than buy a nearly new Fiesta every three years.

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