If you have ever had a car stolen you will appreciate the joy felt by a guy called Ian Wilson, who recently recovered his stolen vehicle.
Wilson, who rejoices in the glorious nickname of Skip, lost his beloved Chevrolet Bel Air but the cops got it back for him when he had probably given up hope of ever seeing it again. After all, a good few months had passed since it was stolen. Well, years to be exact. Decades, if you are being fussy. That’s right; Skip lost his car back in 1984.
You might remember 1984 as being the year you went all teary eyed with Bob Geldof and sang along with Paul Young and Bono in the Band Aid song. It was a memorable year alright.
The cops spread a smile of joy
However, our hero Skip must have looked back on that as the year in which the only water flowing was indeed the bitter sting of tears, as it was the year in which his Chevvy disappeared mysteriously. Thankfully, the California Highway Patrol recently let some light into his life and banished the shade. Yes, in their world of plenty the cops in California threw their arms around the world (or Skip, at least, figuratively speaking) and spread a smile of joy.
They found his Chevvy – not by a levy like you might reasonably expect – but rather in a container ship about to sail to Australia. They rescued if from its illegal Antipodean adventure and reunited it with its owner after 30 years apart.
Perhaps the strangest part of all is that the bold Skip proclaimed that the car was in better shape than when it had been stolen. He said that it has been improved with racing wheels, a better engine and a lot of other changes which were made in the meantime. He had bought it for just $375 back in 1975 and had never got round to getting it looking good before it was stolen.
- Have you ever had a stolen vehicle returned to you a long time later?