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Damn True
02-20-2014, 01:40 PM
Awesome!

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/02/20/after-30-years-stolen-chevy-returned-fully-restored/


After 30 years, stolen Chevy returned — fully restored
Posted on February 20, 2014 | By [email protected]


Good things come to those who wait, and sometimes the best things come to those who wait the longest.

Enter Skip Wilson. The 65-year-old resident of Clearlake Oaks (Lake County) was recently reunited with his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, which was stolen in 1984.

Wilson bought the sought-after hot rod in 1975 from his nephew in Pennsylvania for a whopping $375 and used it as his daily wheels for years before it was ripped off from his front yard.

Wilson, who is retired and battling cancer, never thought he’d see the car again.

“I assumed somebody chopped it up and was using parts of it at the racetrack,” he said.

That assumption evaporated when Wilson got a call from a California Highway Patrol investigator in Southern California asking him if he had any documentation that could prove he was the owner of the long-missing ride. The CHP and U.S. Customs had found the car in a shipping container just days before it was to set sail, bound for a buyer in Australia.

Given the three decades that had passed since the car went missing, Wilson didn’t have the police report handy, but after some digging, he was able to produce the necessary documents that proved the car was his.

A few weeks and a $900 transportation fee later, Wilson was reunited with a car he hardly recognized. When the car was stolen it had no motor or transmission — both had been removed when the vehicle was stolen previously. What came back to him was a completely restored vintage classic.

“It’s got a new motor, upholstery, brakes, rims and tires, and the gauges — those are new, too — only say 9 miles,” he said.

Wilson said the state Department of Motor Vehicles told him that the car had been through four owners, but the serial number had never caught attention because a single digit had been left off. He said he feels bad for the previous owner, who likely poured a significant amount of money into the restoration, and for the buyer in Australia, but that he’s tickled to have his car back.

“Every time I saw one of them on the road, I thought it was her,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable.”

howehot
02-20-2014, 01:54 PM
Cool.

moreHP
02-21-2014, 02:07 PM
Very cool. Had to wait a long time but somebody did the resto for him!

Damn True
02-21-2014, 02:13 PM
World Champion "paint jail"

mmosley
02-21-2014, 02:25 PM
Fair warning... check those titles and register your cars proper! Probably 3 owners that did not know they owned a stolen car.

Nicks67GTO
02-22-2014, 03:35 AM
So who ends up with the bill for the car then? Someone sold it and someone bought it, yet it ended up in his hands.....so who is paying for the car?

BonzoHansen
02-22-2014, 06:57 AM
So who ends up with the bill for the car then? Someone sold it and someone bought it, yet it ended up in his hands.....so who is paying for the car?

the last guy i think

badazz81z28
02-22-2014, 10:08 AM
So who ends up with the bill for the car then? Someone sold it and someone bought it, yet it ended up in his hands.....so who is paying for the car?

In all honesty...If I was that old, ridden with cancer ready to die and knew the car was a POS when it was stolen, been through a few owners, the last owner poured a bunch of cash into it to restore it, I would not be a A-hole and take possession of it. Are you saying the insurance company never reimbursed him? or was it not even insured...

I just think thats wrong in my opinion considering the story behind it.

Nicks67GTO
02-22-2014, 11:34 AM
In all honesty...If I was that old, ridden with cancer ready to die and knew the car was a POS when it was stolen, been through a few owners, the last owner poured a bunch of cash into it to restore it, I would not be a A-hole and take possession of it. Are you saying the insurance company never reimbursed him? or was it not even insured...

I just think thats wrong in my opinion considering the story behind it.

Yeah I think that's wrong. Yes he got hosed in the 80's but the car was a POS then and he had a whopping $375 bucks in it. Some poor fella probably had $20-40K+ in it, not to mention time and effort and hes going to get hosed in the worst way. If i'm the old guy, I would drop out there to where the car is at... spin her around the block a few times, maybe hit a burnout or two and complete the sale to the new owner. Then turn around and make sure the cash is in the right hands and walk away with some dignity. I don't see how he could keep that car in good conscience??

1989GTA
02-22-2014, 02:11 PM
"I don't see how he could keep that car in good conscience??"

Let's see how this turns out. Apparently someone in Australia bought the car from this gentleman. The original owner may have a change of heart after things settle down.

eupp
02-23-2014, 07:05 AM
I do not think 65 is all that old for one thing. Secondly it was his car.

Mizzouri
02-24-2014, 08:40 AM
Yeah I think that's wrong. Yes he got hosed in the 80's but the car was a POS then and he had a whopping $375 bucks in it. Some poor fella probably had $20-40K+ in it, not to mention time and effort and hes going to get hosed in the worst way. If i'm the old guy, I would drop out there to where the car is at... spin her around the block a few times, maybe hit a burnout or two and complete the sale to the new owner. Then turn around and make sure the cash is in the right hands and walk away with some dignity. I don't see how he could keep that car in good conscience??


I agree completely with this.

Nicks67GTO
02-25-2014, 02:07 AM
I do not think 65 is all that old for one thing. Secondly it was his car.

Just because something is legally yours.... dosen't make it right to take it.

badazz81z28
03-01-2014, 12:37 PM
Just because something is legally yours.... dosen't make it right to take it.

After all these years...the VIN tag is probably all that really belongs to the origonal owner.