Stolen VW van found after missing 35 years

Michele Squires once owned the 1965 Volkswagen van that was found recently in a shipping container at a Southern California port -- 35 years after she had it stolen from a repair shop.

She'd now like to buy it back.

Squires told The Spokesman-Review that she was watching television news on Friday when a picture of a VW van popped up on the screen during a story about how customs agents on Oct. 19 discovered the vehicle in a shipping container headed for the Netherlands. The blue-and-white van looked to be in pristine condition, and could be worth more than $25,000.

Customs officials ran the vehicle identification number and found it had been reported stolen from an upholstery shop in Spokane on July 12, 1974. Squires said she had taken the van to the shop to have a bed made in the back for camping.

Squires, 58, is a lifelong Spokane-area resident who has worked at a Chinese restaurant for the past 30 years.

In this undated photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a 1965 Volkswagen van that was stolen 35 years ago from Spokane, Wash., is shown after it was recovered on Oct. 19, 2009, from a shipping container at the Port of Los Angeles bound for The Netherlands. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection / AP)

Her memory of buying the van is a little hazy. She wrecked her previous car and received $600 in settlement, and used that toward the van, though she doesn't remember the price. She remembers having a lot of fun in the van, hauling friends from home to home for progressive dinners and on ski trips.

"It was great in the snow," she said. "Lousy heater. I kind of fell in love with it."

After the van was stolen, Squires was paid off by the insurer, Allstate Insurance Co., which then became the legal owner. When it turned up at the Los Angeles seaport, officials seized it and turned it over to the insurance company.

The van had likely changed owners several times over the years. Most recently, it had been in the hands of a custom repair shop in Arizona, which refurbishes VWs and sells them overseas. Authorities say the owners of the shop are not considered suspects in the long-ago theft.

Squires has contacted Allstate to see if she could get the van back. Before she came forward, a company spokeswoman said Allstate would have the car appraised, apply for a new title and sell it at auction.

Asked Monday if Allstate would try to sell or return the car to Squires, the spokeswoman said the company was still investigating its options.

Squires said she probably cannot afford to buy back the van if it is worth $25,000 or more, as the auto theft investigator on the case has guessed. But she would at least like the first chance at purchasing it, she said.

Million-Dollar Car Crashes in Marsh

I think if I were driving a million dollar car I'd chance the bird and forget the cell phone. DUH!

LA MARQUE, Texas (Nov. 14) -- A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles



The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.
Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.
A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.

STREET LEGAL BUMPER CARS

Occasionally, a bright light of awesome renews the spirit. Road-legal bumper cars do just that.

Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal. Either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines for power, and retired vintage bumper car bodies - transformed into the most awesome form of mini-car we've ever seen.

There's seven of these little monsters floating around California, and they're all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a gyro-gear loose builder on the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap. They were originally powered by Harley engines but rattled like heck and Tom replace them with Honda or Kawasaki 750's... and a couple have been 'measured' [not run at] theoretically as capable of 160 MPH which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase. Doesn't mean we would totally rock one should the opportunity present itself.

This is one awesome 50's car collection

Anyone in this planet could only dream of owning any one of these cars. Please let me introduce two people that restored every one of these cars and still retain ownership to very one. Ted and Sharon (Sunflower) Forbes live in Sooke B.C. which is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. This collection is without a doubt the absolute finest collection of fifties cars in the World.

1956 Ford Skyliner (Glasstop) We restored this car in 1988 from an original car that came from the Indian reservation here on Vancouver Island. It is full power with all options.

1956 Meteor Crown Victoria We restored this car in 1990 and drove it to Ocean Shores Washington for its first drive. It is full power with all accessories except "air".

1955 Meteor Convertible This car is mostly original and it has taken me 28 years to buy it from the original owner. This car spent a good part of its life in Winnipeg. There is probably only about 8 of these cars surviving out of the total production of 201 cars. We have driven this car more last summer than any of our other cars. I rebuilt all the mechanics and added all the accessories and options and it has everything except "air". There is an article on this car in FoMoCo Times

Meteor Convertible Meteors used some Mercury colors in 1956. This 56 Meteor is painted Grove Green and Saffron Yellow with a black lightning bolt and the production numbers are only 479. It is full power with all accessories except "air". She has taken us to Rockin Red Deer in Alberta, Hot August Nights in Reno and many other trips. Because of the color, we call her "Juicy Fruit" and many people have seen this car.

1956 Mercury M-100 Pickup We have driven this truck all over the place form Calif to Manitoba to Sturgis many times since we bought it in 1978. About 12 years ago I put an Aspen suspension , 302 and AOD in the truck to make it drive better. It has never missed a beat. The next time I rebuild the truck I have a 5 L. for it.

55 Merc Sun Valley. I bought this car from an old ladies estate sale in 1983. It was rust free but pretty banged up with only 26000 miles on it. I added all the options and accessories and restored only as needed keeping the car as original as possible.

56 Mercury Montclair Convertible. This car is one of our favorites. I found what was left of it in the Spokane area and restored and drove it to Hot August Nights in Reno in 1996. It is London Grey and Persimmon with full power and all accessories.

1955 Mercury Convertible I tow barred this car from Southern Calif in 1989 behind my little Ford short box 302. The 55 was so ugly, not once did anyone give me the "thumbs up". It is now restored Canadian colors, Sunset Coral with matching Tapestry weave interior and Metric speedo, full power and accessory steering wheel. It has only 530 miles on it because we mostly drive the 56 Mercury convertible

1958 Pontiac Parisienne Convertible. I built this car out of a super basket case. I welded 6 months on this car alone. It is a 348 tri-power, bucket seats and with practically every factory and dealer option available in 1958. We drove this car to Hot August Nights in 2004.

1959 Oldsmobile Convertible I bought this car from my neighbor as a basket case and restored it in 1998. Since then we have driven it to New Mexico, Colorado, Alberta and Nevada four times to Hot August Nights. It was difficult to restore and hard to find parts for. A friend in Cranbrook B.C. was the only source of parts and help I could get. It is full power with the standard 394/hydromantic trans and all accessories

The 64 Park Lane convertible is a good old 78,000 mile car, with all good parts to restore it. It is a full power, bucket seat car with super marauder engine and rare 15" wheels. I have cast iron headers and tri-power for it.

1958 Mercury Convertible I looked for one of these cars for about 10 years and finally got this one from John Fowlie in Calif. We restored it with a 430, full power with memory seat and everything and it is big. I was able to find a lot of NOS parts for this car probably because not many of these cars are being restored. Mostly 57's.

When I found the 59 Impala it was a rust bucket folded up on a 8 ft pallet. The car had no interior or powertrain. It was originally a black Canadian built car. I have installed a 1995 LT-1 fuel injected engine with 700R4 trans but when finished this car will look like it was built this way from the factory(I hope). It is going to be the usual cruiser with fenderskirts, full continental kit, spotlights and so on. It is presently 70% finished but will probably be finished for next spring.

This 1959 Edsel Convertible is the latest addition to the Mountaintop Collection. Of course it goes without saying, this machine has full power options and has been meticulously restored under the skilled hands of Ted Forbes. Another beautiful contribution to an already stunning collection. Congrats Guys!

Hat Tip; Kack