I just saw a news item on my AT&T home page about a 1965 VW van that was stolen 35 years ago. It was found in a shipping container in Spokane headed for the Netherlands. It has been restored and there is a picture.

The story is from AP, but I don;t know anything about linking to the article or including it here. Some of you can do that, I imagine.

Very interesting.

Found in a shipping container in Los Angeles. Still had the original VIN tags on it. Stolen 35 years ago in Spokane, and apparently not licensed in all that time? (the VIN numbers have been in the police "stolen vehicle" databanks for ages). Quite the mystery. I wonder where it's been sitting all this time..

Some peeps and a shop in Arizona just got totally boned.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/apA...e/id/D9BPRT880/

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=385148

FTA:

The van now legally belongs to Allstate Insurance Co., which paid off the original owner's theft claim back in 1974. The Highway Patrol turned over the van to Allstate this week.

Maleta said the van had been restored to pristine condition.

"Now it's probably worth 27 grand," he said. "It's a beautiful van."

Heh. I wonder how much Allstate paid out on the policy back in the day.

Hey! I live in Duluth!

Megan Brunet, a spokeswoman for Allstate, said the company is looking through old records trying to find the original policy and theft claim.

"Trying to find paper files from that far back can be pretty challenging," she said.

The company will likely have the van appraised and go through the process of getting a replacement title before selling it at auction, she said.


First I find it odd that the van was turned over to the insurance company without any paper work on their end showing the pay out.

Second the shop that did the work will have a claim for their work. Considering they are also considered victoms and not suspects they can easily lien that van for the cost of the work.

Having now read about this on a half dozen forums, it never ceases to amaze me how many people DON'T READ the articles, and how stupid their posts are. They must just make up "facts" to suit their mood. The ones on The Samba are particularly clueless.

BTW, the shipping container was opened in Los Angeles, not Spokane, just in case the facts mean anything here, and I'm absolutely sure the restoration shop got paid before the thing ever left their premises.

The Cap'n

Nice looking van, makes me wonder what has happened to it all these years. Bet the original owner would like it back.

Hmmm.... I can only comment on what I read in the Article from the "Duluth News Tribune" My home town paper.


The operators of a vehicle restoration business in Arizona were the latest to have possession of the van, which they refurbished and planned to sell overseas, said Michael Maleta, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol. Maleta said the shop is also considered a victim in the case, and he declined to identify it.

It looks to me as though the shop did the work and planned to sell the van themselves according to the above quote taken from the article.


Stupid is as stupid does. Take your meds you crabby old fart.

Do you REALLY think they just packed up and shipped that puppy overseas without being paid for the vehicle? Did you READ the part about them being considered VICTIMS? BTW, I wasn't referring to YOU falling under the stupid blanket, as you obviously read the article and understood it. BTW, if the Spokane PD had the file, it would have been noted that there was a payout.

The Cap'n

Well, I will admit to making the first mistake in this thread. I had read the article, but didn't refer back to it enough to catch that it was found in L.A. Guess I just picked up on the Spokane dateline.

Mea culpa.

I heard from a guy who read on the internet that the bodies of Jimmy Hoffa and DB Cooper were in the back of the van, along with secret insider Porsche memos of the only 914-12 being abandoned on a ranch in Arizona, next to the REAL Area 51

Everybody knows there were two 914-12 ...

It could happen. I know a few guys who have partners in Europe and they find cars here...ship them to europe and run them through the auctions over there.

With the current exchange rate and the strong desire for the old german iron...yup its a common business practice to fix them up here, or even in Brazil and sell them in Europe.

Shipping to your business in Europe without getting paid is normal in some situations...to bad for those guys...lots of time and effort to get a bus to look good covered in new paint...

Rich