Sometimes, Father really does know best.
Michael Ford wasn’t took thrilled when his dad shot down all his hopes of buying a Corvette. Ford was only 19 at the time, and his old man wasn’t having his teenager tearing around Philly in a ‘Vette.
“Here I was, 17, 18 years old and I’m looking around for a Corvette in Philadelphia,” laughs Ford. “It was a very inner city type environment, and I guess to have a teenage kid with a Corvette is not exactly the smartest thing. My father didn’t let me have one, for obvious reasons, but I wasn’t happy about it.”
Ford has more appreciation for his dad’s good judgment today because he still owns and loves the car that he bought instead of a Corvette — a beautiful 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix. It is about as near-perfect an example of its breed as you’ll find anywhere, it’s got a timeless and cool combination of style and sophistication, and Ford is just as smitten with the Nautilus Blue beauty today as he was the day he first spotted it.
“My friend had a ‘72 Grand Prix which was a really nice car. I still had my heart set on the Corvette, but I was loosing those arguments. My father wasn’t having anything of it,” recalls. “One day we came across a car lot in South Philadelphia and I saw it across the lot. What caught my attention was really the color of the car. It had that blue that really caught your eye; white top, whitewall tires, rally wheels … It really stood out from the crowd.
“They had taken it in as a trade-is. My father was actually looking at a Monte Carlo. He liked the Monte Carlo and he wanted something bigger for me with more metal [laughs]. The Grand Prix was a similar size as the Monte Carlo and it clearly passed his muster. Between the two cars, as far as I’m concerned, the Grand Prix had it all over the Monte Carlo from every angle. Not to knock the Monte Carlo, it was a very nice car, but everything about [the Grand Prix] was a step up over the Monte Carlo in my eyes. It was everything you’d want for a first car.”
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