Maby the lowlifes who stole the guy dads 55 chev and camero will get caught much sooner. There has to be a special place for somebody to steal a dead guys cars! OldWolf
I don't think so. The truck was recovered in Modesto,Ca when the unsuspecting new owners went to register it after it arrived from Texas. Here's the article from the Modesto newspaper:http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/16/1213371/jardine-56-ford-taken-in-1972.html
this part of the article is interesting... The VIN on the pickup door had been covered or replaced by a newer one. When the Modesto couple took the pickup to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Modesto two weeks ago to license and register it, a DMV official noticed the suspicious VIN number and sent them to the CHP office in Salida for a closer look. Bennett knows where to locate the VIN in different places on a vehicle. When he found the number on the Ford's chassis, it didn't match those in the cab. He then searched the vehicle registration database and found Voelker as the last registered owner of the 1956 Ford F-100 pickup reported missing in 1972. Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/16/1213371/jardine-56-ford-taken-in-1972.html#ixzz0s8MfPfUD ponder for a second that this was a basket case, and someone purchased a 56 ford frame for thier truck, which happened to be the stolen trucks frame.... just something to think about when doing a frame off, or switching a body to a good, or better frame. I am not saying that this happened in this case, but it is something that could happen to one of us...
My God! One in a bazillion deal, so happy for the orig. owner. Agree that hopefully our brothers recover the rides swiped lately a bunch sooner. But goes to show ya, never give up. Neat-o ~Sololobo~
" ponder for a second that this was a basket case, and someone purchased a 56 ford frame for thier truck, which happened to be the stolen trucks frame...." I sold a 56 f100 frame to a CHP officer who has a f100 with a bad vin on his frame , it pays to do your paper work.
I think you will be hearing more stories like that from Ca.. Out of state car serial numbers are now verified regularly by the CHP. States that have loose registration rules are looked at very closely in Ca..
Yea I was wondering do they mean 289? Or a new 4.6 modular motor is 281" I wonder if that's what it has? Either way I feel bad for whoever dumped all that money in it not knowing it was hot.
glad to see it reunited with the legal owner. sounds like dad might have been a crook, i have heard more than a few stories and having had vehicles stolen from me when one comes back the person that loses out is usually a fucktard that knew better. sounds kinda cold huh! fucking scumbag thieves!
I always feel sorry for the guy who unwittingly spends a ton of cash on an antique car, then get's it swiped by the police when they find it was stolen decades earlier. They are usually out all the money, which just isn't right. -KK
I wonder if the original owner refused an insurance pay out on the value of the truck? If he had his claim settled by his insurance company in 1972 surely they would own it?
So if they'd just put the door from another truck on it and hadn't disturbed the factory rivets, this story never would have happened?
I could be wrong (as usual), but I believe the serial number plate is attached to the A pillar (not door) of 56 Ford pickups with screws, not rivets. I'd bet the VIN number that they ID'd the theft over was the frame number. And I looked at a couple of old titles I have (51 & 65) and the ID number is referred to a "Motor or Vehicle Identification Number" on the title. So there were VIN numbers before the standardized 18 (or what ever) digit VINs that were legislated into being in the late 60's/early 70's. And even the old serial numbers had a standard way of numbering. If the vehicle isn't numbered right and doesn't have a "builders" title, it could raise red flags for anyone that checks VIN numbers day in and day out. Most of these guys ('speciallly theft division) deal with this stuff enough to know when it's time to check deeper or when everything looks on the up and up. http://www.f100central.com/1956-Ford-Truck.html Larry T
The vin on a 56 ford PK is held to the cowl by 4 phillips head screws. But there are hidden serial numbers on lots of vehicles you just have to know where to look. OldWolf
In the Modesto Bee article, it said dad bought it in 1999. The CA DMV guy was able to track down three prior owners, but there is a dead-end after that on who it belonged to.
Automobile insurance has been around since at least the '20s. People most certainly had it in 1972, albeit perhaps not on a 16 year old work truck.
Okay, so I'll rephrase: if the tag had been switched and reinstalled in a factory correct manner, no one would have been the wiser? I'll admit I've never messed around with 53-56 Ford trucks to know what the tag should look like, but unless the article is purposely leaving something out it makes it sound like there was something that gave them a reason to check for the frame serial number. Point being if you're looking at a car and the tag's messed up, you probably shouldn't buy it, unless it's just a parts car and you can dispose of the shell without any paperwork.
Maybe the tag wasn't modified. Maybe it was a tag for a F 250 on a F-100 (numbered differently) or the wheelbase was wrong (yep, it's on the tag) or ??? Who knows, it didn't really say. Larry T
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