Lauren ZimaA lot of interesting pros and cons in this story — a California man's 1957 Chevy was stolen 30 years ago, and now he's getting it back.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has the story. Ian Wilson is a retired mechanic, and in some ways, this is a dream come true. The car is in way better condition than when it was stolen.
"There's all kinds of chrome added under the hood," said Wilson. "The headers look brand spankin' new. ... The tires, they look like they haven't even been around the block."
Wilson had bought the car with the intent to fix it up himself. He never got the chance — it was stolen in 1984. Then, a few weeks ago, Wilson got a call from the California Highway Patrol saying his car had been found in a shipping container at the Port of Los Angeles. It was going to be sent to Australia.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Wilson's Chevy had gone through multiple owners since being stolen — it's unclear how no one realized this was a stolen car earlier than now.
Well, after 30 years of hoping to spot his beloved stolen car on the road, Wilson is a happy guy. And get this — back when he bought the car, it was for $375. We're guessing it's worth a whole lot more now.
For some perspective, take this '57 Chevy for sale on eBay. It's going for $34,000.
And when Wilson said the tires looked like they had been around the block, he was pretty much right. The odometer says the car only has 9 miles on it.
