Posted on 12/25/2014 7:14:25 AM PST by Brother Cracker
Salinas >> Before Monday, the last time Lynda Alsip saw her forest-green 1967 Ford Mustang was 28 years ago.
It was her first car. They even shared the same birthday, said Alsip, who was born in 1967. She bought the car for $800 at the age of 17, with a little help from her dad who has since passed away.
But about a year after she bought the car, it was stolen from outside her apartment complex in Salinas. Before she had the chance to install her personalized license plates — “LYNDA 67” — it was gone.
“I never thought I would see it again,” she said standing in a Salinas tow yard next to her car, which was recovered in September by the California Highway Patrol. “It’s like winning the lottery. It happens to very few people and for it to happen to me, it’s just an amazing feeling.”
The car was located at the Salinas’ Department of Motor Vehicles. A man was trying to register the Mustang to his name after having it for about 23 years and doing some work to it.
“It had been out of the system for so long that it came back with no file. All of the files for the vehicle had been purged,” CHP officer Jaime Rios said. “The officer did some digging and found out the car was stolen in 1986 from Salinas.”
Officer Chris Menchen, who did the investigation and recovered the vehicle, said the man said he bought it from a storage and had just come around to registering the vehicle. Officials are still investigating whether or not he knew it was stolen.
Alsip was apprehensive when Menchin first contacted her.
“At first I didn’t think it was going to be a happy call. None of my kids were home, and both are at a driving age. But then he asked me if I had ever had my car stolen and I immediately thought: ‘Oh my god! You found my green 1967 Mustang!,’” Alsip said.
On Monday morning, Alsip reunited with her car. She said sitting in the car “brought back a lot of emotions,” especially now that her father is no longer living.
“It’s very bittersweet, it’s an amazing feeling to get this car back. It’s an amazing blessing. I couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present. It’s unreal,” she said.
Alsip said her father taught her how to change the oil, adding that if it weren’t for him, she may have never been able to afford the car.
If still around, Alsip said, her father would tell her “Only you, kid,” about getting the car back so many years later.
Now, she says she’s “going to put it in the garage so no one can steal it and then get it back to road-worthy condition.”
“This will always be in my possession from here on out,” she said.
But before driving back home, Alsip added a final touch — she was finally able to install her personalized license plates.
.......and, if my memory serves me correctly, I remember seeing about $1,700.00 on the window sticker of a mustang on the showroom floor back in 67..........
difference is Uni Party dollar destruction............!
be interesting to do a gold value analysis on it...........
They tell me there is a car in that picture.
***A man was trying to register the Mustang to his name after having it for about 23 years and doing some work to it. ***
DUM-Bass! He should have run it down into Arkansas and for $50.00 got a nice clean title on it showing it had never been driven over 45 MPH by a little old lady only on Sunday on her way to church!
You would be surprised at the number of new Arkansas titles on vehicles that were supposed to have been scrapped out for parts or salvage.
I hear ya. I went to high school in the mid 80s and the parking lot was full of old muscle cars. My first car was a '66 Mustang that my mom bought brand-new. As a teenager, I drove it into the ground and wound up selling it for about $400 to a guy who restored them.
Sure wish I had that car back.
It took me a minute but I’m old.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/18/barrett-jackson-2014-1967-chevrolet-corvette-l88-sells-3-million/
Memories.......my first car was a brand new 1967 powder blue Camarro and had a tough time deciding between the Mustang and the Camarro. My first name is SALLY and within weeks after I got my car, Wilson Pickett’s MUSTANG SALLY went viral. Regrets! LOL
Not even close. Look at the pictures at the link, it needs a lot of work.
As an old body & fender guy, I'm confused, by any chance is that 2 BIG JANEbilts in the fore-ground?
I like to think the picture shows the benefits of a FULL MEAL DEAL, or some might say the added benefit of a fully formed front soft {but just right in firmness} bumper(s). :-)
Gives a whole new meaning of she's BUILT FOR SPEED.
I let the readers decide which she, the car or her??? ;-)
“Nice rack and pinion”
I thought they used Drag links and pitman arms in the old mus..... oh wait you meant....
:-)
My ‘68 Mustang sat in my shop and before that, an airplane hanger for about 20 years before I swapped the title and restored it for my wife.
The ‘67 Fairlane GTA factory big block still sits after about 15 years. I just have to get good enough at body work to make it straight and gloss black.
My father had the plain old white '66 automatic with (aftermarket?) air for commuting.
I thought the '67 was the best looking because of the sharper door treatment. Probably added to the drag coefficient though.
That’s just about it.
FReeper post of the day!
A friend of mine had a 67 also. He bought an L88 engine through his dealership back then, and I remember seeing it sitting in a big wooden shipping crate in his garage. The engine standalone cost him about $1,800.00. My Corvette cost me $3,900 new off the showroom floor. It was the last new 67 model year Corvette still available in Dallas.
I started saving paper route and lawn mowing money for a Corvette in 1958. I worked my butt off and had $3,000 saved 9 years later at age 19. My dad loaned me the remaining $900.00.
Thanks, Dad.
65 Convertible Stangs (Mustangs) are very common. After my 65 Stang was stolen I got a Vette (rebuildable) because seeing another Stang brought back bad memories.
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