Man Reunited with Stolen Corvette After 39 Yrs

[MultiMopars]

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Am I the ONLY person to think that this is complete bs that it has to be returned to the original owner? A year ago in the news there was a woman who's father purchased a 65 or 66 Mustang coupe for her and she owned it since 1971. It was suddenly "found out" that it was stolen and it had to be returned to the original owner. I would completely fight that in court. Anyone who owns a vehicle that long should not have to just give it up regardless of its history. "Grandfather clause" should be in effect. This seems to be the same case. The original person that it was stolen from should not be given the car back.

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What about the original owner's "grandfather" rights"

I am guessing you have never had a car stolen that was not covered by insurance.
I have and I can tell you that it is not a pleasent feeling.

The law is very clear, if you are in possession of stolen property it is to be returned to the rightful owner. In fact, you CAN be thrown in jail for having possession of it. Ususally the only people that happens to are ones the authorities can prove they KNEW it was stolen when they bought it.

Is it a sad situation for an unknowing buyer? Absolutely. However, as I said in my previous post, "When you are dealing with an old car unless you have a history chain back to the original owner your are well advised to make two phone calls. One to the DMV office you plan to title it in and the other to the NCIB. The same question for both, "has this car ever been reported stolen?""

Sure the owner that has to return it to the original owner can fight in court, but the fight should not and will not be with the original owner, nor should it be, he has already had enough grief over the car. The fight should be with the person that sold it to the person that had to give it up. This can create a chain reaction back to the person reponsible for the theift or at least to someone that took possession knowing it was stolen. Judges can ask for confidential title info in this case, however many states only retain this info for a certain period of time.