O.t. Stolen Corvette Found,STOLEN IN 1969!!!!

I have the title to my 66 Starfire that the SOB never paid me for, I was told no.

 

This is from the united press :

After 37 years apart, a former Queens resident and his wandering stolen Corvette are being reunited today.


"It's a miracle," an excited Alan Poster exclaimed when California cops told him his beloved blue Vette had been recovered.

The car vanished from Poster's Queens garage on Jan. 22, 1969. It was on its way to Sweden in November when homeland security agents spotted it as stolen.

The California Highway Patrol said investigators learned the Swedish buyer purchased the car from a man in Texas, who in turn had bought it from someone in New Mexico.

None was aware it had been stolen.

Poster years ago moved to California and had given up hope of seeing the car again.

When he does, he may not recognize it.

It's now silver with a red interior and a new transmission and engine. But the car has no gas tank and doesn't run.After 37 years apart, a former Queens resident and his wandering stolen Corvette are being reunited today.



"It's a miracle," an excited Alan Poster exclaimed when California cops told him his beloved blue Vette had been recovered.

The car vanished from Poster's Queens garage on Jan. 22, 1969. It was on its way to Sweden in November when homeland security agents spotted it as stolen.

The California Highway Patrol said investigators learned the Swedish buyer purchased the car from a man in Texas, who in turn had bought it from someone in New Mexico.

None was aware it had been stolen.

Poster years ago moved to California and had given up hope of seeing the car again.

When he does, he may not recognize it.

It's now silver with a red interior and a new transmission and engine. But the car has no gas tank and doesn't run.

 

From the report on the NYC 11pm TV news: He didn't have theft insurance on the car when it was stolen because it was not registered and was in a garage. I think he paid about $6800 for the car in 1969. It might be worth a few more bucks today.
Back in 1968, also in NYC, a friend had his 54 Ford stolen. He saw it back on the street and registered about six months later. He never went after it. I guess a 15 year old car wasn't worth enough to hassle the new owner.

 

According to the news, the buyer paid 10,000 for it.

Maybe thats what the bill of sale said, but that car is worth way more.

And it was hidden with other crap in the container.

My Swedish buyers try to cram as many cars and parts into the box or its not worth shipping them.

I think the buyer knew it was a sketchy deal.

I'm glad the guy got his car back, even without a transmission.

 

That may be what made it easier to get away with stealing this car. New York State did not title cars before 1973, it was just a registration card. So technically the car had never been titled, unless he bought it out of state at the time. If he left an old reg in the glovebox and someone used that later to register it in another state, in a pre-computer era, maybe transpose a couple digits on the DMV forms or alter it a bit (turn a 3 into an 8 for instance) to be sure - could be the VIN was never checked against a hot sheet until customs ran it. It wasn't until the 80's or later in a lot of states they could look that information up on a computer.

 

Exactly the situation and the people you are thinking about.

 

Even though he did'nt sell the car, most of us have sold a car and wished we had'nt. You know the expression "man I wish I had that car back" or "should have never sold that one." Imagine what the original owner is going thinking

 

I just wonder if it was restored? To me it looks awfully good for being gone that long.

 

Back 15 or so years ago I read an article about a recovered 1970 Elcamino SS. It was a LS6 car which was stolen from in front of a dealership in 1970. It was recovered during a raid on a warehouse 15 years later, only showing 14 miles! Quite a find even then.

Steve