Stolen Corvette Found 32 Years Later

[Old Moparz]

It's rare, but every once in a while it happens. 

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/stolen-corvette-found-32-years-later--with-a-reunion-made-possible-by-gm-142323404.html

I didn't watch the video in the link, but I wonder where the car was kept, who had it, & if it exchanged hands (sold) during the whole time it was missing? 

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Stolen Corvette Found 32 Years Later, With a Reunion Made Possible by GM

Corvette fans generally rank the 1979 editions among their least favorite of any model years, but don't tell that to George Talley. The Detroit man had his 1979 Stingray stolen off the street in July of 1981 — a car he considered lost for good, until last week.

Thanks to the nationwide databases of stolen vehicles, the VIN of Talley's missing Vette was flagged in Mississippi, where authorities found the car in rough shape — interior ripped, engine partially disassembled — but still mostly intact, with 47,000 miles on the odometer.

"I was sitting at home last Friday looking at Judge Mathis, and I get a call from AAA telling me you have a Corvette in Mississippi, come and get it," Talley told WXYZ-TV in Detroit. "And, uh... I said, 'what?'"

While he was delighted at the car's recovery, Talley wasn't sure exactly how he'd get the car back home until Wednesday, when General Motors' head of vehicle development Mark Reuss volunteered to cover any shipping costs. Reuss  owns several older Vettes, and also helped arrange the planned restoration of the cars damaged by the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky. Vette fans may disagree about the best and the worst, but they do stick together.

[JB400]

That's good to hear.  Just hope Kenny doesn't have to wait that long for his.

[tan top]

  good story

[myk]

KILL THIEVES DEAD

[TUFCAT]

He got paid full value by the insurance in 1981, and now he's got his Corvette back for free   ...plus GM executive Mark Ruess is paying all transport costs?   How does that shit work?  

[ws23rt]

He got paid full value by the insurance in 1981, and now he get's his Corvette back for free  ...plus GM executive Mark Ruess is paying all transport costs?   How does that shit work? 

That's a good question. One would think the insurance co. would own the car. They in effect bought it from the guy that lost it by paying him for it.

[Windsor]

That's a cool story. Then I think of the 30 Ford that some dude stole and then crashed into a river here in Oregon and I get depressed again.

[TUFCAT]

Actually, if he had repaid the insurance company claim (in 1981 dollars), he'd still own the car and wouldn't be out very much.

[Ghoste]

Wouldn't they still have to compensate him for whatever he replaced the Vette with?

[TUFCAT]

Look at this scenario

1. Man buys 1979 Corvette in 1979 for $12,500 (best guess)

1. Man's 1979 Corvette is stolen in 1981 and insurance company pays $11,500 (slight depreciation)

2. For simplicity let's assume man used his $11,500 insurance check to purchase new 1981 Corvette.

3. Man eventually sells 1981 Corvette and keeps all proceed of the sale.

4. Fast forward to 2014.  Man get's 1st Corvette back for free!

5. "Free" Corvette has estimated value of $11,600 in #3 condition (which it probably is), or $17,700 in #2 condition (very doubtful)

6. Man loses nothing in 2014, and can double the proceeds he was given by the insurance company in 1981 by selling this Corvette!  That's why I said he could repay the insurance company now, and everyone would be even.


Source: Hagerty Online Valuation Tool - 1979 Chevrolet Corvette 350cid/195hp 4bbl.   (add approx. $1,000 for L-82 not included in valuation).