1978 Ford Granada Ghia X review from UK and Ireland

Bodywork was rusty for most of the 13 years I owned the car.

Some of the interior fittings were very breakable, but I soon fixed them with celetape.

The brake cable snapped after 161,000 miles and had to be replaced.

The Granada was my second car, after a 1959 Morris Minor which I bought on starting work in 1980 and wrote off in a head-on collision.

The bodywork was solid, but for years showed signs of rust.

The interior was originally strong, but started to show its age with fragility.

The brakes were excellent until the cable snapped and had to be replaced.

The V6 engine had excellent performance and was mated to an excellent chassis.

The engine gave good performance, reliability and was economical.

When I sold the Granada in 1999, it was 21 years old and the clock was showing 186,000 miles. I sold it to a family friend for £30. Over the past 13 years, the Granada had given me excellent service, but failed its MOT in 2003, when it was 25 years old. By then, the car had covered 223,000 miles and was still running well.

The Granada was a very reliable, solidly built, good to drive and relatively cheap to run car which I wish I'd kept even longer.

My next car was a 1991 Ford Sierra diesel estate. I bought it for £1,000, with 89,000 miles on the clock. I sold it 3 years later for £350, when it had 130,000 miles on the clock. I now own a 1999 Peugeot 206, which cost £3,750 with 32,000 miles on the clock. Both the Sierra and the Peugeot were reliable and good to drive, but the Granada is the best car I've ever owned.