Stolen "American Graffiti" T-Bird Recovered
Stolen "American Graffiti" T-Bird Recovered
I would love to know what the eBay buyer is going to do now!
PALO ALTO -- When Ronald Leung got the call, he felt like he may be the butt of a joke from his pals on his Palo Alto police bowling team. Afterall, how could it be possible his "American Graffiti" a thunderbird -- stolen in 1976 -- have been found by the California Highway Patrol.
"I used to bowl with some guys from the Palo Alto police department so I thought they were just yanking my chain -- just teasing me," Leung told KTVU on Friday. "I thought someone was pulling a joke on me."
Leung, who owns a rental car business on the Peninsula, said he was shocked when it dawned on him that it was no joke.
"I was totally surprised," said Leung. "My son is 30 years old. The car has been missing for longer than he has been alive."
On Friday, Leung was at the Palo Alto police headquarters, trying to track down the paperwork on the theft so he could get a vehicle release statement.
"They asked me for the original stolen car report, but I told them after 31 years I don't have it any more," he said of the 1956 Ford Thunderbird he spent two years lovingly restoring before it was stolen.
According to Palo Alto Police Department spokesman Brian Philip, a woman in the Ventura County city of Moorpark had recently purchased the Thunderbird on eBay.
When she attempted to register it the California Department of Motor Vehicles was unable to locate the Vehicle Identification Number listed on the car's title.
She took the car to a local California Highway Patrol office where an officer located the correct VIN inside the engine compartment. The correct VIN was listed in the CHP database as belonging to Leung's stolen car.
"We have stolen cars recovered all the time but I've never heard of one being recovered after (31 years)," Philip said.
Leung bought the "Sea Spray Blue" Thunderbird in 1974 for $1,500, but he repainted it white after seeing the famous scene of Suzanne Somers riding in a Tbird in the movie "American Graffiti."
"We saw 'American Graffiti' and the scene of the blond riding in the white Thunderbird," he said "We painted it white to because we wanted an 'American Graffiti' Thunderbird."
The car was stolen two or three months after the restoration was complete from the parking lot of the auto body shop he owned at Forest and High streets in Palo Alto, according to Leung.
Leung intends to travel down to Southern California Thursday and retrieve his car and it will not be for sale on eBay any time soon.
"We are going to put it away," he told KTVU. "We are going to lock and key it and put an alarm on it. And Lojack it."
http://www.ktvu.com/news/13548479/detail.html?qs=1;bp=t
PALO ALTO -- When Ronald Leung got the call, he felt like he may be the butt of a joke from his pals on his Palo Alto police bowling team. Afterall, how could it be possible his "American Graffiti" a thunderbird -- stolen in 1976 -- have been found by the California Highway Patrol.
"I used to bowl with some guys from the Palo Alto police department so I thought they were just yanking my chain -- just teasing me," Leung told KTVU on Friday. "I thought someone was pulling a joke on me."
Leung, who owns a rental car business on the Peninsula, said he was shocked when it dawned on him that it was no joke.
"I was totally surprised," said Leung. "My son is 30 years old. The car has been missing for longer than he has been alive."
On Friday, Leung was at the Palo Alto police headquarters, trying to track down the paperwork on the theft so he could get a vehicle release statement.
"They asked me for the original stolen car report, but I told them after 31 years I don't have it any more," he said of the 1956 Ford Thunderbird he spent two years lovingly restoring before it was stolen.
According to Palo Alto Police Department spokesman Brian Philip, a woman in the Ventura County city of Moorpark had recently purchased the Thunderbird on eBay.
When she attempted to register it the California Department of Motor Vehicles was unable to locate the Vehicle Identification Number listed on the car's title.
She took the car to a local California Highway Patrol office where an officer located the correct VIN inside the engine compartment. The correct VIN was listed in the CHP database as belonging to Leung's stolen car.
"We have stolen cars recovered all the time but I've never heard of one being recovered after (31 years)," Philip said.
Leung bought the "Sea Spray Blue" Thunderbird in 1974 for $1,500, but he repainted it white after seeing the famous scene of Suzanne Somers riding in a Tbird in the movie "American Graffiti."
"We saw 'American Graffiti' and the scene of the blond riding in the white Thunderbird," he said "We painted it white to because we wanted an 'American Graffiti' Thunderbird."
The car was stolen two or three months after the restoration was complete from the parking lot of the auto body shop he owned at Forest and High streets in Palo Alto, according to Leung.
Leung intends to travel down to Southern California Thursday and retrieve his car and it will not be for sale on eBay any time soon.
"We are going to put it away," he told KTVU. "We are going to lock and key it and put an alarm on it. And Lojack it."
http://www.ktvu.com/news/13548479/detail.html?qs=1;bp=t
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Navigation & Audio Installing the PAC SWI-RC Steering Wheel Control Interface
Filmy
Navigation & Audio
6
Jun 28, 2016 08:58 AM