The owner of a 1966 Ford Mustang, newspaper publisher Jack Klunder, had the vehicle stolen from him while he was in college in 1974, according to USA Today. However, the newspaper reports, the Mustang was recently returned to Klunder by the California Highway Patrol and painstakingly restored by the happy owner.
According to USA Today, the theft stuck with Klunder for some time. He reportedly bought Mustangs for two of his daughters, but never expected the call that came through in 2009 from CHP officer Jesus Gomez.
The paper says that the car had been taken as part of a daring operation by a well-organized auto theft ring, and that the Mustang was one of 60 cars stolen. Klunder was at a basketball practice at Rio Hondo Junior College when the theft occurred, the Los Angeles Daily news reports. Thirty-five years later, the car was rediscovered when it was put up for sale and a discrepancy was noticed in its vehicle identification number.
Klunder's newspaper, the Daily News, reports that he did not have auto insurance protection on the vehicle, so the $800 purchase price and $1,000 of improvements Klunder's father had spent on the car were completely lost. Klunder and his father were both deeply upset by the theft, according to the Daily News.
The restoration, which was completed by a friend of Klunder's, took 10 months, but the Mustang is now in near-perfect condition, the Daily News reports.
An auto insurance policy might not be able to restore a unique old car to its owner, but it can certainly ease the financial pain that the theft of such a vehicle can cause.