1978 Lincoln Versailles Test Drive
Introduced during 1977 to great hoopla, the smaller Versailles four-door sedan failed to meet sales expectations. Intended as a rival to Cadillac’s Seville, the $12,529 Versailles (by comparison, a Continental sedan cost $10,166) was actually an offshoot of the Ford Granada, albeit with a passel of lavish features. Borrowing traditional Lincoln touches, a simulated spare tire was integrated into the decklid and the grille resembled that of the Continental. A fully padded vinyl roof had a frenched back window. Initial models had carried a 351 cubic inch V8 engine, but a 302 V8 became standard fare for 1978.
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Comparing this review with the Road Test review from September of 1977, which tested a 1978 car with the 351 engine, the assessments of the ride and handling seem to be reversed. With the 351, the ride was said to be as smooth as any big car, but the handling was ponderous. So, I guess you could have acceleration or tolerable handling, but not both. But Ford did address the original Granada’s worst flaws, the sad, 72HP 4.1L engine and the 1975 suspension that bottomed out on bad roads, and I’m sure some of that improvement trickled down to the ’78-80 Granadas as well. The only really stupid feature they added to this car was the fake-spare hump that hung low enough to gouge the owners head when open. Let’s face it, Ford was stuck trying to make a luxury car out of a Granada which was more-or-less a dressed up Falcon, so they had no chance of delivering a show-stopper. The ’76 Seville was no automotive tour-de-force either, but at least GM could afford fuel injection, a stretched wheelbase and a Cadillac dashboard (thought the dowdy, cramped Nova needed both upgrades more than the Granada did). They were both making do with what they had.
my first car was a 1977 nova. I did not even know until much later that the seville and nova were platform mates. Side note, my mom had a 76 Granada Ghia. The first car i remember her driving
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