If you don’t remember the passing of David Niven or Buckminster Fuller, that’s OK – it was a long time ago. Actually, it was about the same time that Robert Andrews, of Santa Ana, CA, found that his 1973 Camaro had been stolen. He reported the loss to police on July 31, 1983, but nothing much came of their efforts at the time.
Life goes on and, subsequently, Andrews moved to Nevada. Imagine his surprise when the California Highway Patrol called recently to tell him that his Camaro had been found and he needed to come and claim it. Last month, however, when a man tried to title an old Camaro, things took a turn for the better…for Andrews, that is.
An man had apparently purchased the Camaro from a woman who’d said the car sat in her backyard for 15 years. In routine fashion, the DMV told him that the car would need an inspection by CHP because of its age. However, the work done to switch the VIN plate under the windshield was suspicious and led to further investigation.
CHP soon found the Camaro’s original serial number and traced it to the theft report filed 27 years prior. With cooperation from the Nevada Highway Patrol, Andrews was located and advised of his good fortune. While the woman who sold the car is apparently a “person of interest,” the man who bought the Camaro from her is not a suspect.
Andrew’s luck may also get a Christmas boost, according to the LA Times, as several CHP officers are interested in buying the car.