I Once was Lost, but Now I am Found: Man Finds '69 Camaro Stolen 17 Years Ago

[Bill]

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/12...8071609187420/

Virginia man finds stolen 1969 Camaro after 17 years

By Ben Hooper


Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A Virginia man whose 1969 Camaro was stolen 17 years ago was reunited with the vehicle after spotting it in a garage while helping a friend buy another vehicle.

Tommy Cook said the Hugger Orange Camaro was stolen from his auto repair lot in Woodbridge in 2003, and after reporting it stolen he kept renewing the vehicle's missing status with Prince William County police through the mail in the ensuing years.

"I never wrote that car off," Cook told The Free Lance-Star newspaper. "I knew there would be a day and a time when I would get that car back. I didn't know where, but I knew it was out there somewhere."

Cook said he had no leads until 17 years later, when a friend considering the purchase of a 1968 Camaro asked him to take a look at a vehicle listed for sale online by a Maryland man near La Plata.

Cook said he arrived at the auto shop to look at the 1968 Camaro, but his attention was grabbed by a hoodless 1969 Camaro in the corner of the garage.

The man told Cook the green car had originally been painted Hugger Orange, the color of his stolen car. Cook said he took a look at the dashboard VIN and thought it seemed suspicious, so he checked the VIN in another spot under the hood -- and it matched his missing car.

The Charles County Sheriff's Office in Maryland had the Camaro towed to a storage lot, and Cook then had it towed to his new shop in Spotsylvania.

Cook said the car has received some upgrades since he last owned it -- including an engine being installed in the formerly-engineless vehicle. He said the car had apparently changed hands four times since it was stolen in 2003.

"Some people had put money into it," Cook said. "It was better than it was when it was stolen, but it's still an ugly green."

Good news for the owner, have to feel bad for the last guy holding what he probably had no idea, was a stolen car.

[Thunder22]

If he got money from the insurance company, if, it's not his anymore.. Maybe it wasn't insured which is how he got it back.?

[MadInNc]

Originally Posted by Thunder22

If he got money from the insurance company, if, it's not his anymore.. Maybe it wasn't insured which is how he got it back.?

Who knows, maybe he bought back title from ins comp

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Thunder22

If he got money from the insurance company, if, it's not his anymore.. Maybe it wasn't insured which is how he got it back.?

I'm guessing it wasn't insured. Guy admits it had no motor, so it wasn't operable when it was stolen.

But even if it was insured, he would have been the last registered owner, which is how he was tracked down. Insurers aren't chasing good money after bad to have titles with no cars changed over to the insurance company's name, so the state wouldn't know which insurer paid the loss. How would you even compute the sales tax on such a transfer? There's no car, just a title and a set of keys being transferred.

I feel sure this is a rare enough event that even if an insurance company after all this time wanted to lay claim to the car, they would probably publicly waive their claim, just for the good publicity. Think about it. Guy finds his long ago stolen classic car, only for his insurance company to swoop in and say, :Hey, that's our car now?" They would have every right to do that, of course, and they probably do that with most theft recoveries made within a few years of the theft, but I don't see any insurer doing that in this case.

[mrvette]

Watt is interesting to ME, is just HOW the car managed to get tagged by the poor guy who lost it in the recovery......ASSuming he didn't steal it......

that double S/N in two location seems strange to me....

[Grey Ghost]

I think someone was selling restamped VIN and TRIM plates for midyears. The only way to tell original and untouched was by the rivet head. I have looked at a couple of cars that had them attached with a phillips head screw...I knew to do a 180 and run.

NCM had a midyear on display a few yrs. ago that was stolen and returned to owner. Stolen off the street in the '70s and insurance claim never filed. Changed hands a few times and received a frame off resto. The VIN was posted on the dealers page and the owner contacted the police.

[69camfrk]

Originally Posted by Thunder22

If he got money from the insurance company, if, it's not his anymore.. Maybe it wasn't insured which is how he got it back.?

Without an engine, it probably wasn't insured..

[Mick]

Originally Posted by MadInNc

Who knows, maybe he bought back title from ins comp

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

I'm guessing it wasn't insured. Guy admits it had no motor, so it wasn't operable when it was stolen.

But even if it was insured, he would have been the last registered owner, which is how he was tracked down. Insurers aren't chasing good money after bad to have titles with no cars changed over to the insurance company's name, so the state wouldn't know which insurer paid the loss. How would you even compute the sales tax on such a transfer? There's no car, just a title and a set of keys being transferred.

I feel sure this is a rare enough event that even if an insurance company after all this time wanted to lay claim to the car, they would probably publicly waive their claim, just for the good publicity. Think about it. Guy finds his long ago stolen classic car, only for his insurance company to swoop in and say, :Hey, that's our car now?" They would have every right to do that, of course, and they probably do that with most theft recoveries made within a few years of the theft, but I don't see any insurer doing that in this case.

I agree that it was likely not insured. Based on reading about a dozen or so cases like this over the years, it appears that if it was insured, and the victim was paid, the buy back seems to be the normal practice. It makes sense too, the insurance company doesn't want the physical car, and even if they have it, they are not in the business of selling used cars. Based on that, I assume that if they have a willing buyer who will pay them back what they paid on the claim, probably plus a minimal profit, they take that deal and run.