Posted on 12/29/2020 12:00:26 PM PST by Red Badger
Virginia man Tommy Cook was reunited with his 1969 Camaro when he spotted it in a Maryland garage 17 years after it was stolen. Cook said the vehicle had been painted green and given a fraudulent VIN to disguise it
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."
Police in France solved a missing vehicle case after an even longer amount of time had elapsed in 2017. Chalons-en-Champagne police said a property owner called authorities to report a muddy pond had receded amid drought conditions, revealing a the top of a Peugeot 104 buried in the muck.
Police determined the car had been reported stolen from its third owner in 1979 -- 38 years before it was found in the swamp.
See above a few (((ping)))
Had almost exactly the same BBS type wheels like this only the honeycomb portion was in gold not silver.
I drove that thing up to NJ from Florida twice. Great car and never let me down until I had to replace the flywheel, and then 6 months later I had the same problem so I let it go before sinking anymore money into it.
Not that car, the FReeper’s mother’s car.............
Sorry thought we were talking about the Camaro!!!
No one who has ever owned one.
Why do you suppose so many cars are burned whenever there is a riot anywhere in France?
Didn’t know that; thanks for the info.
Well I would hope that they actually trace this car back to the first owner after it was stolen. I would say that person is most likely the thief. Or they will know who is.
My dad made the mistake of buying a Chevy Vega. It was such an underpowered unreliable 💩box my 1968 Charger was actually cheaper to drive. When I worked for him whenever I had to go to the south bronx, Newark or other such “exotic” neighborhoods I would leave it unlocked sometimes with the keys in the ignition. And the damn thing would still be where I left it.
yup, it’s his. lucky man
I really love the look of the old Mustangs.
When I was in high school in Florida, as a senior in 1966, I drove a Renault Dauphine! I used to
Park it two blocks from the school and walk in so nobody would see me driving it.
Maybe/maybe not, Tommy kept renewing the Stolen Vehicle Report/Claim. That may nullify the Limits.
It could be the perpscum was just getting started with the career of Auto Theft and VIN Alterations and is still doing it or may have been recently Busted. Heck it may be the “Straw that breaks the Camels Back” and they bring down a Regional Ring.
I’m sure the 4 Purchasers will be following up on their $$$losses$$$, I know I would be.
I wish We had a way to keep updated on the Investigation.
He just found it before it was lost.
Here's my 1967 Camaro, with myself at the wheel, Christmas Day, 1967.
https://i.gyazo.com/0b13d3e3e1470d8d4c1f7ef7c8620515.png
Miustang not Camaro shown. You can get both.
Oh LOOK! It was in my garage! I can’t believe it!
a thief cannot convey legitimate title
Doesn’t work like that.
Wife had a 280zx stolen in Dc 25 years ago. DC impounded the car, didn’t tell us about it and sold it at their police auction. Capital police pulled the car over about 18 months later. Dash vin was changed, but they looked at the engine block.
We got the car back.
> I would leave it unlocked sometimes with the keys in the ignition.
I was going to say you should have left it running.
Then I remembered you said it was a Vega.
So... Never Mind.
Kevin B
‘ i i i i i i
So are you an expert on these things.
Maybe his insurance coverage and/or his renewal of the theft reports made the difference.
My dad bought several used Vegas since you could by them so cheap. The problem with the engine was that that the aluminum engine block would wear due to the steel rings. My dad would bore them out and put steel sleeves in the block, I think the sleeves were for a Ford tractor. With a Saginaw transmission and a decent rear end, they were decent cars. I put over 100k on mine and then gave it to my sister. We had at least 5 of them.
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