Positivity: Stolen 1956 Thunderbird recovered — 31 years later
(06-21) 17:07 PDT PALO ALTO — When the phone rang at his car-rental business in Milpitas this morning and Palo Alto police were on the line, retired Officer Ronald Leung figured he was being solicited for the department’s bowling league.
The last thing he expected was that Officer Brian Philip would be calling with news that Leung’s stolen 1956 Ford Thunderbird had been recovered in Ventura County — 31 years to the day after it was ripped off from a Palo Alto parking lot.
“I was very shocked. I mean, you’d be shocked, too, if you lost something and you found it — 31 years later,” Leung said. “Let me tell you, after 31 years, I thought that car was long-gone history, like the Roman Empire.”
Since 1976, when the car was stolen from Leung’s auto-repair shop on Forest Avenue and High Street, the 59-year-old car aficionado has fathered two kids and retired from a two-decade-long career in law enforcement. The classic car, meanwhile, stayed in mint shape, according to the Ventura County California Highway Patrol officer who helped piece the puzzle together.
“It’s in really good condition,” said CHP Officer Christopher Throgmorton, who works out of the agency’s Moorpark (Ventura County) office and has gained a reputation in Southern California for being able to track down the vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, of old cars. “It looks like somebody had it refurbished. It’s been restored.”
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