Stolen Vintage Volkswagan Found 35 Years Later
Stolen Volkswagan Found 35 Years Later
This is an unbelievable lost and found story about a 1965 Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Spokane, Washington; found by customs agents in a shipping container in the Los Angeles port last month, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said.
The blue van, discovered in immaculate condition, was headed for Germany along with several other vintage Volkswagens, Customs and Border Protection Port Director Todd Hoffman said.
This was shocking news to the Arizona shipping company who had no idea the vehicle was stolen from a Spokane auto shop in 1974, Hoffman said.
It is routine for Customs and Border Protection agents to run vehicle identification numbers (VIN) through the National Insurance Crime Bureau database with asset tracking for all vehicles loading on ships for export, he said. Usually when they recover stolen vehicles (about once a week), they are high-end luxury cars. While the van was likely worth just several hundred dollars when it was stolen, the VW is now valued at about $27,000.
Allstate Insurance Company, which paid the original owner for the loss decades ago, now owns the van, according to Allstate spokeswoman Megan Brunet. The insurance company has not decided if it will sell the van at auction — which is the routine — or put it to other use because of it’s history, she said.
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Aww, Allstate should offer the previous owners the ability to buy it back for their original buy out price. Just for good humor and a happy ending to the story.