14 DAY TRIAL // A California man has recovered his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, one of the world's most coveted cars among collectors, 30 years after it was stolen.
Skip Wilson's car disappeared from his Lake County home in 1984 and it has been returned to him by the California Highway Patrol on Monday, February 17, in Clearlake Oaks.
The car was found in a shipping container in Los Angeles, bound for Australia.
The 65-year-old man was very surprised when he received a call from a CHP investigator named Mike Maleta informing him that his Chevy was found in a shipping container at the Port of Los Angeles.
After a routine inspection, officers checked the vehicle's identification number and discovered that it belonged to a stolen car. Federal officers called in Maleta, of CHP, who then contacted the owner.
After three decades and four other owners, the Chevy came home to Northern California in a better shape than when it vanished.
Skip Wilson, who is a retired mechanic, says the car has had a lot of work done since it was stolen. It was returned to him with a monogrammed interior, rack-and-pinion steering, a 350-horsepower V-8 engine with a Holley four-barrel carburetor, and 17-inch racing wheels.
“There's all kinds of chrome added under the hood. The headers look brand spankin' new. The tires, they look like they haven't even been around the block,” says the original owner, according to Press Democrat.
“I imagine somebody in Australia must be awful upset,” he adds.
Wilson bought the Bel Air in 1975 for $375 (€273) and he was planning to fix it up, as it was in wretched shape.
In August 2012, thieves in Los Angeles stole a black '57 Chevrolet Bel-Air owned by Phil McGraw, a famous TV host, but police recovered his $100,000 (€72,900) vehicle four months later.