Stolen '57 Chevy returned to owner after 30 years
Posted: February 21, 2014 - 4:02am

kip Wilson poses in front of his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air that was stolen in 1984 and returned to him by the California Highway Patrol on Monday, February 17, in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. Three decades after it was stolen, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air has been returned to a Northern California man, in better shape than when he originally owned it. (AP photo)
LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP) -- Three decades after it was stolen, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air has been returned to a Northern California man -- in better shape than when he originally owned it. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports (http://bit.ly/NcVegk) Ian "Skip" Wilson was shocked to get a call from the California Highway Patrol informing him that his long-lost Chevy was taken off an Australia-bound cargo ship. The 65-year-old says the car has had a lot of work done on it since it disappeared from his Lake County home in 1984. It was returned with a monogrammed interior, 17-inch racing wheels, rack-and-pinion steering and a 350-horsepower V-8 engine. The retired mechanic says the two-door was in sorry shape when he bought it for $375 in 1975 with plans for fixing it up.