The seller of today’s Escort says it has a clean California title, and that’s where it is being Craigslisted. Some of the pictures in the ad however, have a real Harry Potter/Privet Drive vibe to them, which might just put a spell on its price.

There was something fishy about yesterday’s , and it wasn’t the car’s iconic shark nose. No, it was its price, which at thirteen-eight proved to be out of line with its presentation, at least to the 57% of you who sent it to the depths of a Crack pipe loss.

At least BMW sold the E24 here, giving us the pleasure of today gauging their value. Not every manufacturer has been so accommodating.

Look, I’m a sucker for European Fords. Don’t ask me why, but I just loves me some Cortinas, Prefects, Capris, Anglias, and their ilk. Maybe it’s because I gravitate to small cars and while here in the States we got the somewhat dumpy, and at times possibly explode-y Pinto, Europe got cars like this 1975 Escort 1600 Sport.

The Escort replaced the Anglia in 1967. That Anglia was a jaunty little car with a reverse-angle back window on the two-door, but it was kind of medieval in its design. The new car broadened the model range, offering a 4-door along with the 2-door, panel and an estate, but it kept the time-tested front-engine/rear-wheel drive layout.

That meant that it was less space efficient than the FWD competition that was beginning to show up at the time. The leaf-sprung rear end, McPherson Strut front suspension and rack and pinion steering however, did make the Escort a prime platform for performance. Hell, they even have their own .

This represents the second generation restyle which carried over its predecessor’s underpinnings under a revamped outer skin. The body was squared off and the windows were enlarged and Ford continued to make hot versions, notably the RS1800 and screaming RS2000s. So successful were the Escorts in the RAC Rally series that the model dominated every year from 1975 through ’79.

This one’s not going to win many rallies, but it does look to be a pretty nice piece of kit. The 1600 in the 1600 Sport name is in reference to the 1,599-cc Kent cross-flow four under the hood. This is claimed to be the sturdier 711M engine which had thicker castings, a taller deck, and stouter mains.

Here that four is fed by a Weber two-barrel and the engine compartment in which it lives looks impressively tidy and complete. Ahead of that, the split bumpers and rally lights imbue the car with a sense of sporting pretensions, which are backed up by rally wheels and a spoiler on the back. Paint and factory striping both look to be excellent.

The interior is likewise in great shape and sports a three-spoke wheel for all you steering needs. The car is LHD which means it didn’t come from England, but that brings up a question which is where did this car originate, and what’s it doing here now?

The pics in the ad - there are actually two ads with slightly different pictures running concurrently - show the car in a suburban environment that’s most likely not Sacramento California, as well as others that look like they might be. The ad also claims that the car has a clean California title.

Now, unlike the Feds who have a rolling 25-year exemption for imports, California set 1975 as the cut-off for emissions compliance. Before ’75 you don’t have to get a smog test every to years. ’76 and newer? You’re screwed, and don’t even think about bringing in a noncompliant car without getting it retrofitted and BAR certified.

This Escort makes the California cut and, like they say on Broadway, if it can make it here, it can make it anywhere. The question is, can it make it for $16,500? From the looks of it, that’s in the ballpark for one of these in GB or on the Continent. And that’s without the hassle of having to ship it to the U.S. if that’s where you hang your hat.

What’s the over/under on this rare where it sits Escort and its $16,500 price? Is that a deal to drive so obscure a car? Or, for that kind of cash is this an Escort you’d send back?

You decide!

Sacramento , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to 710ind for the hookup!

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