Recovered 1965 Shelby

Some of you may have seen the auction, it was only up for a few days then disappeared. Here's the rest of the story:
Apparently, 5S229 was stolen in 1979. The insurance company paid the owner the "at the time" value of the car. which was the princely sum of $6500. It showed up on Ebay but disappeared well before the auction closed. Someone ran the numbers and lo and behold, the State of New York impounds the car. The Statute of Limitations for the theft has run out. You would think the insurance company is the rightful owner but nothing is a slam dunk when it comes to the legal profession.

 

There is so much thievery going on that I don't have any sympathy for someone who gets caught. In this case, the guy who bought the car in '79 didn't know it was stolen. That's a real tragedy because usually, the person possessing the stolen merchandise is just out. Years ago, I worked in an auto parts store and saw just how much of this went on. It never ceased to amaze me to hear someone who considered himself an honest, law abiding citizen state, when he was offered something at a fraction of it's true value "I didn't steal it, I don't know for a fact it's stolen, looks like a good deal to me" when he knew all the time the part was hot. I used to tell these guys if there was no market for this stuff, they wouldn't steal it, and maybe someday these guys are going to hit you!"
I had an occasion to work with law enforcement a couple of times and have to tell you, it feels REAL GOOD to have a hand in getting some working guys parts back and putting the bad guys away. (Watched a local sheriff detective read a low-life his rights and snap the Smith and Wesson’s on his wrists after recovering about 5K in stolen parts)