LOS ANGELES — A Texas man whose prized sports car was stolen 42
years ago recovered the vehicle in California after spotting it on
eBay, authorities said Sunday.
Robert Russell told the Los Angeles County sheriff's officials
that he had never given up searching for the 1967 Austin-Healey
after it was stolen from his Philadelphia home in 1970.
The 66-year-old retired sales manager from Southlake told the
Dallas Morning News ( ) he paid a friend $3000 for the car. It had
sentimental value to him because it was stolen the morning after he
took his future wife out on their second date.
Russell said he spent years surfing the Internet looking for the
car and didn't have much hope of finding it.
"The fact that the car still exists is improbable," he said. "It
could have been junked or wrecked."
He said he checked on eBay periodically and spotted it a few
weeks ago. He immediately called a Beverly Hills car dealership
that was selling it.
He said the vehicle's identification number matched that of his
car. He had the original key and car title, but not a copy of the
stolen-car report to prove that it was stolen from him.
Russell contacted Philadelphia police for help and learned that
the stolen-car report wasn't showing up at the FBI's national crime
index because one vehicle identification number was entered
incorrectly. The report was finally found and the file was
reactivated, enabling Los Angeles authorities to impound the
car.
Russell and his wife, Cynthia, drove to Los Angeles and took
possession of the car. It's now valued at $23,000.
"It still runs, but the brakes don't work well," he said. "We're
going to put it back the way it was."