[1]A couple of weekends ago, classic car buffs from around the world descended on Monterey, California for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Hundreds of millions of dollars in automobiles were on display, and hundreds of cars traded hands at one of the many auctions held that weekend.
[2]One of the yet-to-be-recovered Chevies, a ’61 Impala.
Unfortunately this event also attracted some lower life forms, drawn by the low amount of security and ease of lifting old cars. So it was that four classic Chevrolets, including a 1962 Corvette, were pilfered during the Pebble Beach event weekend [3]. Thankfully, the Monterey Herald [4] reports that the Corvette has since been recovered, a little worse for wear but still in one piece.
Pat Monahan’s red ‘62 Corvette was one of the four stolen Chevys, and he didn’t have much hope of ever seeing it again. Such cars are easy to rebody, part out, or ship overseas, and Pat was sure his car was gone. But thanks to the Internet fame of the Monterey thefts, word soon got around, and a resident of San Jose noticed a classic Corvette that seemed to have been abandoned by his house.
Monahan hooked up his trailer, picked up the Corvette, and was given the A-OK by the San Jose police to take the car home. The Corvette had seen some tough times in the joyriders’ hands, being covered in fresh scratches, with brush caught in some of the bodywork and a mysterious liquid poured all over the interior.
But for Monahan, who spent 20 years restoring the Corvette himself, it’s just a second chance to start over.