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SAN DIEGO, California – Imagine you were threatened by gangsters to steal a car? Then after stealing the vehicle you place it in storage for safe keeping.
Now fast-forward two decades and more than half a million Rand in storage fees, wouldn’t that guilt (read: financial burden) begin to play on your conscience?
A mint condition 1989 Chevrolet Corvette, stolen from a San Diego car dealership in the same year, has been sold on eBay for the original sticker price.
CAR THIEF CONFESSED
According to the LA Times, a man, identified as "an Irish immigrant”, claimed he was “coerced by gangsters” to steal the Corvette 23 years earlier. The thief dumped the car in storage where it amassed the equivalent of R593 000 over two decades.
Police recovered the Corvette in September 2012 at a San Diego self-storage unit after the thief stopped paying the monthly fee.
They said the thief was co-operative and didn't charge him.
The cherry-red 1989 convertible, with only 107km on the odometer, was won on an eBay auction by Mike Robertson, a Newport Beach advertising executive.
‘THIS IS A TIME CAPSULE’
Robertson said that he had always dreamed of buying a car and storing it: “Somebody else did it for me. This is a time capsule.”
The final price was R334 000, which was the manufacturer's suggested retail price posted on the original windshield sticker.
The insurance company, which reimbursed the dealership for the Corvette back in 1989, sold the recovered car to Glendale wholesale car manager Corky Rice, who posted it on eBay.
WATCH VIDEO HERE
Have you bought a classic gem or have interesting car sale story to share? Email us and we'll publish your thoughts on Wheels24.
Now fast-forward two decades and more than half a million Rand in storage fees, wouldn’t that guilt (read: financial burden) begin to play on your conscience?
A mint condition 1989 Chevrolet Corvette, stolen from a San Diego car dealership in the same year, has been sold on eBay for the original sticker price.
CAR THIEF CONFESSED
According to the LA Times, a man, identified as "an Irish immigrant”, claimed he was “coerced by gangsters” to steal the Corvette 23 years earlier. The thief dumped the car in storage where it amassed the equivalent of R593 000 over two decades.
Police recovered the Corvette in September 2012 at a San Diego self-storage unit after the thief stopped paying the monthly fee.
They said the thief was co-operative and didn't charge him.
The cherry-red 1989 convertible, with only 107km on the odometer, was won on an eBay auction by Mike Robertson, a Newport Beach advertising executive.
‘THIS IS A TIME CAPSULE’
Robertson said that he had always dreamed of buying a car and storing it: “Somebody else did it for me. This is a time capsule.”
The final price was R334 000, which was the manufacturer's suggested retail price posted on the original windshield sticker.
The insurance company, which reimbursed the dealership for the Corvette back in 1989, sold the recovered car to Glendale wholesale car manager Corky Rice, who posted it on eBay.
WATCH VIDEO HERE
Have you bought a classic gem or have interesting car sale story to share? Email us and we'll publish your thoughts on Wheels24.
