When people talk about the fabulous Fords of the 1970s they usually go gooey-eyed over the Capri, Cortina and Escort.
Brilliant motors they were but the car for me was the three-litre Consul Granada.
Here was a car that just had to go the extra mile to be special.
It had to do a lot of catching up to regain lost ground caused by the enormous, boxy and very strange Mk IV Zephyr and Zodiac which did not go down a bundle in the UK plus replace the German Taunus 17M, 20M and 26M.
Yes, the 1972 Consul Granada did have its work cut out in a tough marketplace and proved without doubt it was a match for any of its competition.
It was a bit like a giant Cortina, a flagship model of a range that also included V4 two-litre and V6 2.5 options. But it was the three-litre that stood out a mile.
My favourite was the Consul GT fitted with heavy duty suspension, 6J wheels and radial ply tyres. Here was a car that had the grunt and the glamour with a supple well-controlled ride, punchy acceleration and very advanced power steering. It gave standards of large car performance that were way ahead of its day and was a hard act to follow when the more angular Granada Mk II hit the streets in 1977.
This was a car that delivered a lot in every way. It was really in competition with the Jaguar XJ6 and could hold its own with pride. The icing on the cake was attaining TV fame as the wheels of DI Jack Regan in the hit TV series The Sweeney.
In The Sweeney, the Consul GT was mixing it with Jaguars and Vauxhalls of the time and showing just what it could do. And the public loved it. It achieved fame equalling the older 1962 Zephyr in Z Cars.
I drive a lot of larger, powerful cars in the course of my career and many are much more powerful, agile and in many ways safer than the old Consul GT. But do they deliver the same experience? The answer, in many cases has to be no because most modern performance cars do it all for you. With the Consul Granada the dynamics of advanced sure-footedness were just getting a grip and you really had to be aware of the car's capabilities and shortcomings.
I drove a GT on a track one day and got adventurous with it. The radials on the 6J wheels were remarkably tenacious and the big car had a high element of control in a slide.
There is an active preservation movement for this model and I was lucky enough to drive a rebuilt example at a recent event.
It imparted the old buzz of the day I drove my first Consul GT but I felt it politic not to put my foot down as the owner was in the car.
Fans of the Capri and Escort and Cortina will forgive me I am sure for waving the flag for this massive, fabulous, non-pc example of the big car approach in executive motoring in the early 70s. Glory days indeed.
Citroen Traction Avant
Every now and again an automotive star is born, sending reverberations throughout the industry. This is exactly what happened in 1924 when Andre Citroen unveiled the Traction Avant. more
MGB
Never was a sports car more loved by the British public than the MGB - a car that was later literally dumped by its manufacturer. more
VW Karmann Ghia
For most who take an interest in that wonderful automotive era of the late 50s and 60s, the name Volkswagen conjures up just one image...the iconic Beetle. more
Triumphant Stag
The demise of the British motor industry was a saga of brilliant ideas, botched manufacturing and often dreadful management. more
Ford Classic
It was a big, bold, shiny, heavenly set of wheels. Some called it tacky, but with more front than Diana Dors, the 1960s Ford Classic was certainly a car of its time. more
Austin A99
Rally fans will remember or have read of Pat Moss's win at the wheel of an Austin Healey on the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege rally. more
Jaguar XJ220
One of the great British supercars - the Jaguar XJ220 - is a rare sight these days. more
Rover Jet1
In the 1950s Rover was regarded as the staid wheels of the well-heeled. They went about life in their own snooty way, and you would hardly have guessed the company had a tiger by the tail. more
Austin Ambassador
There are some cars that are easily forgotten and the Austin Ambassador is one of them. Launched in March 1982, it took the reins from the disappointing wedge-shaped Austin Princess, with the added advantage of a tailgate. more
Ford Consul
When people talk about the fabulous Fords of the 1970s they usually go gooey-eyed over the Capri, Cortina and Escort. more
Abbot
For those lucky enough to have a pocket deep enough to indulge in a little fantasy, the world of military vehicles offers some amazing opportunities. more
BMC 1800
That odd, and later unstable conglomeration of great British marques, BMC lived in a strange world of certainty in the early 1960s.
more
BMW Z1
One car which I believe has never been granted the credit it deserves is the BMW Z1. This is the daddy of all the BMW Z Series.
more
Vauxhall Victor
Some cars can capitalise on their own failings. A perfect example of this is the Vauxhall Victor F of the late 1950s which has become quite a rarity because thousands of them just rotted away at a relatively early age. more
Ford Escort
So much has been written about the great Ford Escort, launched in 1968, that we tend to forget a model bearing the same name produced a few years earlier. more
Bedford CA Van
The Multi Purpose Vehicle is often regarded as a modern idea - but it has its roots in some important vehicles of yesteryear. more
The Riley RM
Just after the end of the Second World War, that great British manufacturer Riley hit the ground running with a model that still remains one of the most graceful family cars ever. more
Ford Prefect
How it was possible for a model name to progress and survive through that amazing transitional period from sit-up-and-beg styles to modern three-box thinking is well illustrated by the Ford Prefect more
Pierce Silver-Arrow
In the 1860s, George N. Pierce earned a living from making cages for birds and squirrels. Little did he know that his homespun ingenuity honed in Buffalo, USA, would result in a car that has become one of the most sought after classics in the world. more
A real prize Fighter
As we have seen in the past, some cars are classics before they hit the streets. Such a car is the new Fighter T from that amazing company Bristol. more
Triumph Spitfire
I always wanted a Triumph Spitfire but never got around to buying one. A shame because the Spitfire was a little cracker of a sports car that made a big impression before the end of British mass-produced two seaters. more
Vovlo 760
Back in 1982 Volvo introduced a model that set the market agape. When the large 760 was rolled out, one of the top motoring writers of the time, LJK Setright, described it as follows: "Scarcely credible even as a car of the present, though some of its qualities are redolent of a sadly lost past." more
Renault 5
When it first appeared in 1972, the Renault 5 was described as sympathetic and amusing by a member of the motoring Press. more
Porsche 356
In 1875 a world automotive genius was born. Ferdinand Porsche became a grand master of German motoring excellence and his name is linked to cars like the Mercedes-Benz 38/250... more
Ford Edsel
Sometimes a motor manufacturer can get it hopelessly and horribly wrong. Such was the case with the Edsel, an American giant of the late 1950s. more
