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.
I own a 67 Camaro. Steal it and die.
I find no mention of any insurance claim in the Article.
That leaves only speculation on that part.
I’ll toss out that if Tommy had been Paid a claim via insurance to Him that His continuance of renewal of the Stolen Vehicle Report would have not been allowed.
I’m not a Auto Theft Investigator or insurance agent/investigator but I did stay at a Holiday Inn one time.
The only French cars that I ever liked were the Citroën DS and the Citroën SM. Extremely SMOOTH driving. Everything else made by the French? No thank you. As bad as a Chrysler, or I should say, Fiat, especially those diesels in their trucks! Calling them ‘garbage’ is an insult to garbage everywhere.
Yes He is. It amazes Me how someone buying a Classic Car would only check the easy to see/read VIN and not spent a few extra minutes checking the other VIN locations AND Cross matching the Engine/Transmission Numbers also.
I dated a guy once who drove a Renault. It had a bumper sticker that said, “Quit pushing. I’m peddling as fast as I can.
I remember seeing a Camaro just like that one next to a house I used to pass on the way to work. It was obviously someone’s project car.
It had a sign in the window that said “NOT FOR SALE”.
I’ve read that the Dynacorn bodies are superior to the originals. I’ve bought individual body panels and the steel was first rate.
The only Vegas left have been converted to Buick V6s or small block Chevys for racing. I knew someone who took a Vega and ripped out the inner wheel wells and stuffed a 427 big block in it, beefed up the suspension and brakes and put 6ft wheelie bars in the back. There’s a few Lotus Cosworth Vegas, with the 16 cylinder head and fuel injection, high tech for the time.
The only Vegas left have been converted to Buick V6s or small block Chevys for racing. I knew someone who took a Vega and ripped out the inner wheel wells and stuffed a 427 big block in it, beefed up the suspension and brakes and put 6ft wheelie bars in the back. There’s a few Lotus Cosworth Vegas, with the 16 cylinder head and fuel injection, high tech for the time.
I had a 1976 Honda Civic hatchback in baby blue. I could barely get people to ride with me.
I had a great friend in ROTC who earned his money delivering pizzas in a beat up green Plymouth Volare Station Wagon. The shift linkage broke so he used a coat hanger and rope to shift the vehicle. It was hilarious.
Anyway, just before graduation he kept the doors unlocked hoping someone would steal the car but it never happened. No self-respecting thief would steal that piece of junk.
“Criminally and civilly, I suspect that the statutes of limitations has expired.”
There’s criminal, there’s civil, and there’s me breaking the guy’s legs.
Renault Dauphine!!!
In the early 1970s, a fellow student had one, an OK ride with one major flaw.
In cold weather, he always had to park facing a straightaway.
Locked in drive until warmed up.
Yes, it would start like that, and if you stood on the brake it would die.
A few laps around the parking lot and good to go.
Such a deal.
Great thread. Can’t find a photo of college car my dad got for me. Mint condition (brought over on the Queen Mary I- in the hold, and came with a full maintenance record from bought new. An English Austin Cambridge A-55 MK II 1959. Leather seats, shift on the column, 1.5 L B series 4 cylinder. 4 door, converted to left side driver for US. Lasted a long while. The Flying A— friends noted the A-55 lettering on the “boot”/trunk looked like “A@@”-and perfect match to driver. It was a cool car. Austin being the premier producer of the famous London cabs— don’t see them much anymore over there. Endurance like a Checker Marathon.
We had them in the late 70’s and early 80’s. My dad bought them and bored out the blocks just to get a cheap basic transportation vehicle for family members. One friend put a 283 in one. They were never collector vehicles.
I sold my old cars a couple of years ago— 63 nova SS convertible and 64 nova 4 door (my grandmother’s car), both with 350s. I have my father’s 78 Ford pickup.
I guess the Cosworths are collectible perhaps.
I lived in Deerfield Beach at the time. Got a 10 ft surfboard from Buck’ s Surfboards. When I drove up A1A with it tied to the Renault the car used to leave the road for short hops when we hit a dip in the road haha!
Nope. Any dumbass who buys a classic car without verifying the VIN merits the consequences and, IMHO, each person who transacted the vehicle should be held to account.
Furthermore, there should be sanction for the DMV who obviously issued a new title on a stolen vehicle without adequate inspection.
Law is the law (unless you’re a democrat).
You didn’t have your seat belt on!....................
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