Falls Church (home), Charlottesville (college), Virginia, USA
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Mercury Monarch
Mercury Monarch 1975-1980
The Mercury Monarch was the sister model to the Ford Granada. Introduced in 1975, the pair of compacts was intended as a replacement for the Ford Maverick and the Mercury Comet twins, cars with which the new models shared underpinnings. Both the Granada and the Monarch were offered as both a coupe and as a sedan.
The Monarch was the upscale, more expensive of the two (and consequently the slower seller), and initially came in three trim levels: base, Monarch Ghia, and the top-of-the-line Grand Monarch Ghia (rather rare, with only 3000 built in 1975, the Grand Monarch Ghia was used as the personal car of 3 out of 5 of Ford’s top executives). Another trim line, the Monarch S, was offered in 1976 and 1977, but was replaced by the Monarch ESS model in 1978.
The new cars were marketed aggressively, with Ford playing up the Granada's visual similarity to the new Cadillac Seville and its competitive pricing. Described as "precision-sized," the models were strong sellers, with the Granada being the top seller in the compact segment in 1976, and the Monarch edging past the Cougar XR-7 to become Mercury's top seller in 1977. The Mercury Grand Monarch Ghia was replaced in 1977 by the new Lincoln Versailles. The Granada/Monarch was redesigned for 1978, with rectangular headlights being the most noticeable change, and an ESS ("European Sports Sedan") option group was added that year with special trim and a heavy-duty suspension.
Standard engine in the Monarch was a 200 cubic inch six-cylinder, while the Monarch Ghia had a 250 cubic inch six-cylinder as standard. Two V-8s were also available: a 302 and a 351. A 3-speed manual transmission was standard on most models, while a 3-speed automatic was standard on cars with the 351 V-8 and optional on lesser-engined cars. A new 4-speed manual transmission with overdrive was introduced in 1977.
The Granada/Monarch's position is the Ford Motor Company hierarchy is a bit strange. Despite being originally intended as a replacement for the Maverick/Comet, these two models remained in production until 1977. The Granada/Monarch was marketed as more upscale, and aimed at owners of larger cars who might be looking to downsize as fuel prices rose. In 1978, the more modern Fairmont/Zephyr was also introduced as a replacement for the Maverick/Comet. For a few years, the Granada/Monarch and the Fairmont/Zephyr were sold alongside each other, although unsurprisingly the older model didn't sell as well. In 1981, the Granada was redesigned, while the Monarch name was dropped, its place in the lineup taken over by a sedan wearing the Mercury Cougar name.
The American Ford Granada is unrelated to the European model of the same name.
I photographed this 1975-1977 base-model Mercury Monarch coupe parked near the stadium at the University of Virginia. With numerous rust spots and missing trim pieces, “CAJUN6” has certainly seen better days, but its classic good looks still stand out.
UCP's biggest (only?) fan of the '74-'76 Mercury Cougar.
UCP's proudest owner of a '74 Cougar