cj2112

So imagine this, your laying in bed in Los Alamitos (Orange County) California, it's 1:58 am in March of 1992, about 2 years prior you've bought a 1981 El Camino literally from the little old lady who's husband just passed away. Outside you hear someone whisper loudly "No stupid, this one", a minute or so later you hear a car start up and drive away. You wake up the next morning to find your El Camino has been stolen.

Fast forward to October 2003 (yes 11-1/2 years later). You're living in Grants Pass Oregon roughly 750 miles north, and have been for 6 or 7 years. One day you go check your mail, and in your mailbox there is a letter from the Torrance California office of the California Highway Patrol. You open it having no clue what they could possibly want and it's a letter requesting that you call Sgt. Stover Regarding a 1981 El Camino that you had reported stolen in 1992. So you, being the good, slightly clueless, law abiding citizen that you are call and speak w/ the good Sgt. He informs you that they have your El Camino that was stolen 11-1/2 years ago and asks if you'd like to come pick it up. Naturally you say "you have what?" then after you realize that this isn't some bad practical joke, you ask " what kind of condition is the car in?" and he replies "It's one of the nicest El Camino's I've ever seen."

So curiosity gets to you and you ask how they recovered the car.....Here's where the story gets interesting folks (ok so it's interesting to me). Thief steals car, puts VIN numbers from a 1978 1/2 ton Chevy Pickup on car. He then places an ad in the newspaper and sells car. Poor sucker buys car, loves it, put's a beautiful burgundy metalflake paint job on it, puts 20" IROC style rims on it (which he got back), a nice stereo in it (which he also got back), a rebuilt engine in it, and has the transmission rebuilt. He has the car for 10 years while he's doing all this to it. He goes to have it smog checked and the guy at the smog station asks him why it's registered as a 1/2 ton pickup instead of an El Camino. The guy asks the DMV, they tell him he'll have to ask the CHP. So the guy takes it to the CHP and Sgt. Stover happens to be a car buff, and notices immediately that the car is not a '78, but an '81 (there are some very very subtle differences). So he runs all the visible VIN's and they all come back to the '78 pickup. He asks the guy to pull the car on the rack, and he runs the VIN off of the frame. It comes back stolen out of Los Alimitos CA 11-1/2 years prior, the CHP takes possesion of the car, the guy who buys it is out of luck and a really nice car. My parents go get the car, it sits at their place for 3 years, and they decided to give it to me


Here's the pics

ShaniFaye

That is one amazing story!!!

pretty car

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bodypainter

Great story!

Oh, can I borrow your car? I need to run to Home Depot.

DEI37

Holy crap! That's awesome! Sucks to be the guy who bought it, but that's cool for you that you got it back! Sometimes, it's not bad to have an e-check, 'eh?

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sky_driver

Good story. The car looks nice for an '81, especially the interior.

Enjoy your b'day gift.

Craven Morehead

Holy shit! Amazing story. Sucks for the poor sap that bought the car, but good luck for you.

BadNick

Great story ...I especially like the happy ending. Good luck with it ...better luck than last time.


I wonder if I'll ever get my '61 Plymouth Valiant back? ...the first unibody car made in America!

Cynthetiq

wow.. that's pretty cool story... almost as good as the Corvette guy...

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Plaid13

Good stuff kinda surprised it went so long without someone noticing that it wasnt a 78 one ton. I dunno what its like out there but i drove one week with plates from my old car on a new car i just bought and before the paperwork went through for the transfer the cops pulled me over three times because i was in a lumina and not a plymoth colt. every time i was cuffed and spent 45 min on the side of the road untill they checked what was going on. Going years witha elcamino registered as a one ton truck of a diffrent make and model... thats nuts.

cj2112

It was registered as a half ton, not a one ton. In doing some research, I found that California registers El Camino's as pick-ups, just not as 1/2 ton pick-ups, which would explain how this slipped by for so long.

Aro23

nice, poor guy who bought the car though atleast he took good care of the car for you for free for 11 years hehehehe

The_Jazz

Glad it worked out for you, but I do feel sorry for the poor sucker. Hopefully they'll track down the thief. Congrats on getting it back, though. I'm surprised it didn't make the news with a good story like that.

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