There can't have been many 20-year old Granadas left in 1997, although California cars don't rust... but this isn't a Ford Granada from what I can see. Although Jaycee's reports listed the car as a possible 1980 model, the car shown appears to be to me a Ford LTD from 1983 approximately.
Left: 1978 Granada; right: 1983 LTD
It's similar enough for this to be the car that Carl Probyn reported - but I'd be surprised if another witness also misidentified it.
As stated above, Garrido is 20 years younger and possibly a foot taller than the suspect described.
As for Garecht - who knows if Garrido is the right guy? If he had long hair, a child witness in the 1980s might assume that the person was much younger because the only men they'd know with long hair might have been younger. It seems unlikely that he had notably bad skin at the time though. It certainly seems as though Garecht's friend saw the abduction itself and didn't just identify a POI at the scene but is this confirmed?
Garrido's car is almost certainly a 1983 as the license plate (1LPR664) would have been issued before 1984 and California plates are issued sequentially. The 1982 bodystyle was different, I believe. The plate
could be false as it implies the car has never been re-registered as the 2ABC123 format came in from 1984. Does anyone know if a Ca. plate automatically changes when the car is sold within the state?
In any event, I doubt very much that Garrido was driving this car in November 1988 unless it was his mother's. He was only a couple of months out of jail, probably with little cash and no credit, and this was quite a recent car (<6 years old). That doesn't hurt the case against him though: the abduction car would
not have fit the description of an "older model American sedan"... the Ford LTD was a new design in 1983 and quite modern looking. Would you consider a 2003 Mazda6 an "older model" today?
