Stolen VW microbus turns up 35 years later at port

Nov 06, 2009 (Daily Breeze - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- VLKAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Federal customs agents at the Port of Los Angeles made a totally groovy discovery while inspecting a cargo container bound for the Netherlands, authorities announced Thursday.

A mint-condition 1965 Volkswagen microbus reported stolen 35 years ago from Spokane, Wash., turned up during a routine inspection of several vehicles on Oct. 19, according to Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"It looks like the car was restored, or at least kept in pristine condition, and it still runs like a dream," Ruiz said. "It had about 70,000 miles on the odometer, but we don't know if those are the original miles, if they were rolled back or if it flipped and started over again."

Even more far out: The restored blue-and-white hippie-mobile has an estimated value of $27,000 to $30,000, at least 10 times what it was worth 35 years ago, said Officer Mike Maleta of the California Highway Patrol's foreign export and recovery

task force.

The V-Dub microbus was reported stolen from a Spokane auto upholstery shop on July 12, 1974, the same time that city was hosting the World Expo and one month before the resignation of President Richard Nixon, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, a spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

The owner, whose name was not released, filed a claim with Allstate Insurance Co., and the case went unsolved for decades.

"It's not every day that you solve an old stolen vehicle case like this," DeRuwe said.

The van turned up at the Port of Los Angeles when an Arizona-based restoration shop was trying to ship it to a car collector in the Netherlands, Maleta said. Authorities ran the vehicle's identification number and found that it was still listed as stolen.

The restorer was not considered a suspect and no arrests have been made, but the theft remained under investigation, according to Maleta and Ruiz.

"The person who most recently had the bus may not have necessarily known that it was stolen 35 years ago, and the bus may have gone through several hands before it ended up here," Ruiz said. "Maybe if the previous owner sees this in the news, he or she will come forward."

Authorities were unable to track down the original owner, so the bus was sent to Allstate, said Jim Klapthor, a spokesman for the insurance firm.

"It's too early to tell what will become of the vehicle itself," Klapthor said. "But the CHP and customs agents can point to a story like this showing what great lengths they make in tracking down stolen goods and we can't thank them enough for being so diligent in making this discovery."

art.marroquin@dailybreeze.com

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