@Kevin - Bay Area posted:Why on Earth would someone buy a stripped down Grenada and put it away for safe keeping? I read the back story.....I'm not buying it for a second.
The bid jumped from $2600 to $9500. Somebody wants this thing. For the convenience of SOC, here's the most popular comment on BAT for this Grenada:
DATELINE DEARBORN, 1960:
“Boys, the imports are killing us. We thought they’d go away, but they just keep coming. We gotta have something to compete against ‘em. Small, but American. Cheap to buy, cheaper to build. Come up with something quick to stem the tide.” The Boss looked worried.
“We got it Boss. It’s plain. It’s simple. It will put the Beetle in its place and we’ll own the market. We’re calling it the Falcon,” the Minions said.
DATELINE DEARBORN, 1970:
“Men, the imports are still killing us. We thought we had the answer, but apparently we didn’t. At least the market didn’t think so. We gotta have something to offer that will get back some market share in the small car field. Something that’ll drive people to the showrooms again.” The Boss still looked worried.
“We got it, Boss. We’ll take the Falcon, spruce it up, call it ‘Maverick’ and make it a competitor against the imports. People will love it. We’ll start out with a 2-door coupe and see how it goes. Add a sedan later. We’ll own the market again.”
“Didn’t we already turn the Falcon into a Mustang?” The Boss was on his toes.
“Exactly. Biggest seller since the Model T. We proved the formula works!” The Minions were on top of their game.
Trusting the Minions, The Boss left for his manicure and massage feeling as though the answer was well at hand.
DATELINE DEARBORN, 1975:
“The imports from Germany and Sweden are killing us. The sales of our sedan-yachts are tanking because of the darned oil situation. We gotta come up with something, the stock is tanking because of our tanks.” The Boss looked worried and was slurring his words.
“Already on it, Boss. We take the Maverick, make it boxy and slap on a vinyl top and some fake wood grain. Make people think it looks like a Mercedes. Run ads with the two of them together. Call it a ‘Granada’. Sounds kind of European.” The Minions had done their homework. “We’ll make a Mercury version called ‘Monarch’. Nothing more European than Monarchs. Even throw a four-on-the-floor in a few of them and call it sporty!”
“But isn’t that really just the Falcon from a decade and a half ago?” The Boss wasn’t slurring his words as much as they thought he was.
“They’ll never know,” the Minions replied. “Trust us.”
The Boss was late for his court date to get rid of Wife #2. He trusted they had the situation fully under control.
DATELINE DEARBORN, 1977:
“Cadillac is kicking our backside with this new small Cadillac. Never thought I’d see the day!” The Boss looked tired, concerned, and like his mind might be somewhere else. Maybe Wife #3. “We gotta do something.”
“Way ahead of you, Boss.” The Minions were ready this time. “We take the Granada, slap a Lincoln grille on the front and a fake tire hump on the trunk. We come up with a new paint process to make it shiny. We thought we’d call it ‘Clearcoat’. Folks will be so impressed with the paint, they won’t notice that it’s a Granada underneath. Seats will be leather. More fake wood grain all around the cabin. We’ll call it ‘Versailles’. It sounds French!”
“It is French, you idiot,” The Boss still had it. “And isn’t all this really just the Falcon from nearly 20 years ago? I just don’t know how much we can get by with. Things are different now. People are smarter.”
The Minions thought the Boss might be on to them.
“But still . . . it might just work.”