Stolen Van Found a Mere 35 Years Later

If you've ever had your car stolen, be patient: it might take 35 years to get it back.

Last month, custom agents in Los Angeles got a shock when they opened a shipping container bound for the Netherlands and did a routine check of the VIN number for the restored 1965 Volkswagen van they found inside. They discovered the vehicle had been reported stolen ... all the way back in 1974.

According to the Spokesman-Review, the van (which looks like the type of vehicle once used to follow around the Grateful Dead) was swiped from a Spokane auto upholstery shop on July 12, 1974. The van was already nine years old at that point, and worth less than a thousand dollars. Ironically, the owner had taken it to the ill-fated upholstery shop for a little sprucing up.

The identity of the mystery owner has not been discovered yet. At the moment, the van is owned by Allstate Insurance Co., which paid off the owner back in 1974. They are trying to locate the rightful owner, but that's proving no easy task.

"We've been looking through our files to find the original policy," Allstate spokeswoman Megan Brunet told the paper. "Trying to find paper files from that far back can be pretty challenging."

If the original owner is located he/she will have quite a pleasant shock. Recently, the van ended up at a custom restoration shop in Arizona, which fully refurbished the van to its original glory, making it now worth a cool $27,000 or so.

The Arizona shop, which officials declined to name, was attempting to ship the van and three restored VW Beetles to the Netherlands to resell. California Highway Patrol investigator Michael Maleta said the shop is also considered a victim in the case and they are still trying to determine who originally stole the van all those years ago.

If the original owner is not located, the sweet ride will be sold at auction, which seems like a bummer ending to this cool story. So, if you know anyone who lost a VW van in Spokane back in 1974, make sure they contact the California Highway Patrol. We want to see a happy ending to this story.

Photo courtesy of Ildar Sagdejev via Wikimedia Commons.