History Stolen 57 Chevy found after 30 years headed for down under

Not sure if this has been covered before but It just came out in our local rag. One of my club members just got his 57 Chevy back after 30 years and better yet it has been restored. It was taken off a container in Southern Cal. headed for Australia.
Wondering if anybody knows the buyer in Australia or the seller in the States.

 

That would be a shocker after 30 years. Then to see that it had been restored. I'll bet he almost shit his pants!
Great to see one make it back to the rightful owner.

 

Winner!

 

Score...........

 

More here...
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Stolen-Chevrolet-Bel-Air-is-recovered-30-years-5253591.php

 

He's HAPPY the buyer is probably beside himself and out some cash! What happened to the THIEF? Couldn't read the article's small print.

 

Thanks now I can read it!

 

very cool indeed glad its a local too im in lakeport!!!

 

Over thirty years ago my buddy's 56 F-100 was stolen.
About three years ago it was recovered & he got it back.
The people who had it, sued him for the "improvments" & won !
He had to pay them $10,000, or surrender the truck !!
Don't you just love our legal system !?

 

seriously ?????^^^^^ that sucks.......

 

Amazing! I had a car stolen here in New York in the early 60's that I would love to get back. I wonder if this guy had insurance on it? I would think if he got paid for the car it would not go back to him.

 

That's "Left Coast politics" for you!!!!

 

They'd get the opportunity to sue me again, for their medical bills.........

 

theres somethin awfully screwed up about that , i believe in old fashioned karma whether it comes around naturally or induced <<<,,,,

 

Probably a similar situation to the '57 Chevy....The thief wasn't the one who restored it. The person who bought the vehicle and restored it likely was unaware that it was ever stolen. They are victims of the theft too,not just the person it was originally stolen from.

I'm not saying I agree with the law suit, but I feel for both parties.

 

If it were in a shipping container headed for Australia then it would of had to have a title. How was the car titled if it was stolen?

 

This story actually made the ABC News with Diane Sawyer tonight,glad he got back his '57 you could catch the story on their website.

 

Old enough the VIN or title number wasn't in a database...went to a different state, etc. Here in KS the only thing required to get a title for an antique is a bill of sale & a vin inspection. The vin inspection just checks for current theft reports...if it was years ago you'd never know until the cops came to get your pride & joy.

 

I'm really happy for the owner. He was a young Man when the car was stolen.
From the article;

"He said the state Department of Motor Vehicles told him that the car had been through four owners but that the serial number had never caught attention because the first character had been left off."

 

To get it into the country and get an import approval, issued by Federal Govt, you need a Title or Bill of Sale along with supporting documents and photographs. Will be interesting to see how this develops. No permit etc and car can't be registered legally.

 

If the car was stolen with out motor and box shouldn't it get returned the same way, otherwise it in fact has parts on it that he has taken from the person who restored it (not the original thief).

 

With all of this PR I bet it will get real interesting.

 

IF ,the original owner got paid out by insurance then he in fact no longer owns it. IF he didn't then it's my opinion that he ought to do the right thing IMO and hammer out a deal with the guy who restored it in good faith ,all along believing he had rightful ownership. It sounds to me like the car has....new engine/trans, upholstery, tyres,wiring...etc.

Maybe they could work out a 'free lease' kind of deal ,where when the original owner passes on the car is left to the guy who rebuilt it...?

I agree with all who've said...this could get very interesting, I'm sure insurance companies and legalese will be watching this one.

 

I feel sorry for the people who spent a lot of money and lost it. On concern did the person who the car was stolen from write his loss of on his taxes?? If they go to court this could change the way the law is interpeted. The person who spent the money can have a large tax deduction for a causity loss. As so the original owner may owe taxes for a net gain.I would have a hard time living with my self keeping the car if I was the original owner. But I do not have a dog in this fight.

 

From what I'm "making up" it was a school project that took a little longer to finished than originally thought. It was the prototype for "OverHaulin" and the student's was a C. Foose!

 

I can see every one that's involved with the car losing out on this..... JW

 

I almost shit my pants looking at your avatar

 

the catch is the law looks as a person with stolen property as being guilty , weather its bought or given , and is also considered a accessory to the crime ( recieving stolen property ) . ignorance is not allowed in a court of law , they purchased the vehicle without checking the vin vs the registration IMO the State is partially at fault too .
but legally a missing charachter on a vin vs a title make the title void as its not for the vehicle in question if they want to get technical about it the numbers and letters and there positions are the only true match of identification of ownership .and it has to be exact . ( I had a problem with this with 2 vehicles with sequentail vins and the paperwork got messed up and when a officer did a roadside inspection when crossing back out of Canada we had alot of explaining to do when he did the vin check lucky for us we had the paperwork in the office )

things like this are why more states are making the vin be verified by a official before allowing registration , and going to the title registration route . this is why some states will not accept BOS or titles from companies like broadway title or From certain states , my BIL moved here (Illinois) from Maine and all his cars have to be inspected BY SOS before the state will issue a title on them , and this includes his newer ones too .

 

I like Fleet-Masters train of thinking. It would eliminate a lot of hassle.
The police department should go back through all the previous owners to see I they can get the shit bag that stole the car originally.

 

Motoramic

Stolen '57 Chevy comes back to owner 30 years later

Justin Hyde

By Justin Hyde 4 hours ago Motoramic

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Stolen 1957 Chevy returned to owner

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Ian "Skip" Wilson with his 1957 Chevy Bel Air

If you're unlucky enough to have your car stolen, there's roughly an 80 percent chance that your car will be found. Those numbers paid off for a retired northern California mechanic when his stolen 1957 Chevy Bel Air was recovered by law enforcement &#8212; 30 years after it went missing, and in far better condition than when it was snatched.

As first reported by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Ian "Skip" Wilson got a call three weeks ago from the California Highway Patrol asking after the Bel Air he reported stolen in 1984. Wilson told Yahoo Autos he had paid $375 for the car back in the '70s on the East Coast, and had driven it daily for years before someone swiped it in 1982. Wilson had gotten the car back that time without an engine, and was working on it when it was stolen again.

"I always figured somebody local took it, cut it up and put it on the fairgrounds racetrack," Wilson said. "I never imagined it could end up in Los Angeles."

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/6...e0-9b08-11e3-8889-f5756be4dc1f_eidtsrpdcc.jpg

Yet the car that rolled back into his garage had been restored, repainted and rebuilt throughout, with a new 350 V-8 engine, custom leather interior and show-quality chrome. It had also somehow been legally bought and sold four times despite Wilson's theft report. The car was a couple of days from being shipped from Los Angeles to a new owner in Australia when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents discovered its criminal history, seized it from a shipping container and turned it over to California officials to reunite Wilson with his car.

Wilson says after calling him, the authorities took some convincing before they would believe the car was his. In addition to retrieving the 30-year-old copy of his theft report, Wilson had to describe the car in detail &#8212; and succeeded only when he mentioned how it had a hole in the floor from the days when it was used by the previous owner to smuggle cigarettes. Even then, it took weeks of working through red tape before it landed in his driveway &#8212; the first time he laid eyes on it since it went missing.

"My friend who picked it up said 'Oh you're going to be happy when you see this,'" Wilson said.

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In recent years border agents have seized a growing number of stolen vehicles heading out of the country, beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Wilson says he feels for whomever was supposed to own his Bel Air, for which he has now paid an additional $900 in hauling fees, and plans to let his grandchildren enjoy it as well. "I&#8217;ll never drive this car unless it's a beautiful sunny day," he said. "It&#8217;s just unbelievable."



Photos: Christopher Chung, courtesy Santa Rosa Press-Democrat

Crime & Justice
Society & Culture
Chevy Bel Air
California Highway Patrol