Stolen Chevy Returned To Rightful Owner After 30 Years

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Image Source: Pressdemocrat.com

We all want the law to work, wrongs to be righted, crooks to be caught, and ultimately justice served. However, sometimes that justice takes a lot longer than what we would like. For Ian Wilson, justice came over 30 years after his beloved 1957 Chevy Bel Air was stolen in the early 1980s.

Now 65 years old, Wilson had his ’57 Chevy stolen twice in the early 80’s and hadn’t seen it in nearly 30 years! That was until this week when Wilson received a phone call from a California highway patrol investigator Mike Maleta gave him a call about a potential ’57 Chevy that might be the very car that was stolen over 30 years ago.

img001-smSo how did this happen? According to PressDemocrat.com the find happened thanks to a routine inspection of outbound cargo containers:

“The discovery came after a routine inspection of outbound cargo containers sparked suspicion by officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection…. Officers isolated the container with the Chevy inside and called in officers of the non-profit National Insurance Crime Bureau. They confirmed that the car’s vehicle identification number was listed as belonging to a stolen car.”

Of all the cars that were being shipped to Australia this was the only one that was stolen. Apparently the Chevy had changed hands almost five times before the cops found it on the fateful dock. The Chevy was scheduled to leave the country in 2 days!

Wilson who is currently battling cancer the Chevy looks a lot different than the last time he saw it. Originally being covered in a white over yellow, now sits in a gorgeous shade of competition orange with a new 350 horsepower V8.  “Somebody put a whole lot of work and money into that car,” Wilson said. “It was all disassembled and put back.”

So for the price of $900 to have the ’57 shipped back to his home, the stolen classic has been returned to the rightful owner.

Wilson summed up what everyone that visits this page is thinking….“I imagine somebody in Australia must be awful upset.”

About the author

John Gibson

John has been around dirt track racing his entire life. In fact, he was almost born at Monett Speedway in Monett, Missouri. He has raced everything on dirt and asphalt from karts, to Indy cars, to 650 horsepower stock cars in the USAR Pro Cup where he currently races.
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