The Camaro genes explain the Nova’s long front end it really was a Camaro under the skin with three inches more wheelbase at the rear to better accommodate a rear seat. That’s the year that Chevy’s bubble-top roof and the Ford’s formal roof tradition began, and although they were a bit modified for the Nova and Granada coupes, the traditions cannot be denied. One could see these two different roof styles reflect styling traditions at the two respective makers going back all the way to 1959. The difference in their respective stylistic missions is really acute in comparing the two coupe versions. But from the cowl forward, the Nova now shared the subframe, suspension and steering from the ’71-up Camaro, generally regarded as the best handling sporty car at the time. The ’75 redo involved some changes to the body from the cowl back, especially in opening up the greenhouse, but not really as deep as might be assumed. The ’68 Chevy II/Nova shared its platform and undoubtedly many of its key hard points with the ’67 Camaro. Just looking at its long-hood proportions makes its Camaro DNA all too obvious. The 1975 Nova had to cover all the bases, from cheap to sporty to luxury, although there’s little doubt that the LN was a fairly last minute addition in reaction to the coming of the Granada. The styling on the ’75 Nova makes it clear that they had BMW much more in their visors than a Ford LTD, or Ford’s bastardized idea of Mercedes styling. The Brougham Era had essentially been a Ford invention, and GM was still a bit ambivalent. ![]() Meanwhile, things over at GM were quite different. The Granada was originally developed to be the replacement for the Maverick, but when Lee read the tea leaves, he decided to push the Granada upmarket, and keep the Maverick around as the bottom feeder. By 1975, buyers were willing to move up a notch into compacts, but wanted the amenities (and looks) they had been used to in their LTD. In 1974, peak year of that freak-out, the Pinto was the best selling name plate in the land. The energy crisis of 1974-1974 had sent a lot of big car buyers scurrying to smaller cars. In other words, dynamic qualities took a major back seat to the sizzle, which is something Ford and its President Lee Iacocca was well versed in.īut Iacocca’s genius was in marketing, and it really shone here. The Granada sat on an enlarged 1960 Falcon platform/chassis it’s handling, in a PS comparison test evoked these words: “The Granada.has excessive freedom to roll, pitch and bounce”. worst power-to weight ratio 48.46 lbs per hp.lowest hp per cubic inch: 0.28 hp per cubic inch.It won that distinction thanks to some remarkable stats (with the optional 250 CID six): ![]() And their respective success in the sales charts couldn’t be more different.Ī while back we bestowed the 1975 Ford Granada with “The Most Malaise Car Ever” award, with the subtitle “A Triumph of (Imitative) Style Over Substance”. The Granada conformed to the LTD formula and was quite nicely trimmed even in the base version, as there was also the Maverick for cheapskates the Nova had to cover the full compact spectrum, but there was a new top-trim LN, which became the Concours in 1976.Īnd although they both were targeting the same segment of the market, the two cars couldn’t be more different. Ford and Chevrolet had new compacts on tap that year the Granada and the Nova. In 1975, a somewhat curious convergence happened: all of the Big Three came out with broughamized luxury variants of their compact cars.
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