This 1971 Ford Escort is said to be one of just three twin-cam examples supplied to Ford of Portugal when new, according to a 2018 inspection performed by marque specialist Ian Sutcliffe in the UK. The car was converted to left-hand-drive when new and is powered by a 1.6-liter DOHC inline-four with Weber 40DCOE carburetors paired with a 4-speed manual gearbox. The seller states that the vehicle has never been restored. Modifications include a roll bar, racing seats, rally instrumentation, and more as outlined below. The car was not campaigned in period according to the selling dealer, though it has since participated in a number of events, including the 2013 Rally Costa Brava Historic and the 2014 Bordeaux Sud-Ouest Classic. This Escort Twin Cam is now being offered in Oceanside, California with an inspection report, records pertaining to an engine rebuild, additional documentation, an owner’s manual, the factory seats, and transferable New York registration.

The twin-cam Escort was developed by Ford’s Competitions Department at Boreham, and production at the Halewood plant ran from early 1968 through 1971 with the seller claiming total production of less than 1,300 cars. The majority of the Halewood-built twin-cam cars were finished in Ermine White, though Maize Yellow and Sunset Red were offered as special-order options toward the end of production. This particular example is believed to be one of three factory-produced Sunset Red cars and has received an exterior repaint, though the original finish is believed to be present in the trunk and engine compartments. A paint bubble on the lower right-hand door is detailed in the photo gallery below.

Lotus badges have been affixed to the front grille and rear deck lid, and a driver’s sideview mirror has also been added. Minilite alloy wheels are mounted with Vredstein tires at each corner. The braking system utilizes slotted front discs and rear drums.

Inside, a set of period-style competition bucket seats are installed along with period-style Britax harnesses, rally instrumentation, a fire extinguisher, and a roll bar. A black vinyl rear bench seat remains in place, and the car retains right-hand-drive windscreen wipers.

The correct Springalex steering wheel features an added Lotus emblem as pictured above. The 5-digit odometer indicates 93,600 kilometers (~58k miles), and approximately 1k miles have been added by the selling dealer.

The original front seats accompany the sale and are further detailed in the gallery below.

Event stickers and a full-sized spare are contained in the trunk compartment.

The 1,558cc twin-cam four was rebuilt by Brett Sims Motorsport in Hampton, UK and sends power to the rear wheels through a 4-speed manual gearbox. The inspection report states that the exhaust manifold is correct but the exhaust system itself is aftermarket. The seller states that the engine has a small oil leak and was recently serviced with an oil change, new spark plugs, a clutch adjustment, and fluid top-off.

One of the factory data plates is pictured above. Ian Sutcliffe’s report states that the car retains original chassis and body plates, as well as a chassis stamp on the right-hand suspension top reinforcing plate.

Additional photos from underneath this Escort are displayed in the gallery.

Interested parties are encouraged to read Ian Sutcliffe’s 3-page inspection report. According to the seller, Mr. Sutcliffe has been involved with AVO cars for 30+ years and has owned several Escort twin-cams and AVO Escorts. For the past 14 years he has sat on the committee of the Ford AVO Owner’s Club as the twin-cam registrar. A driving video can be viewed below: