[STOLEN] 1969 Corvette Stolen 44 Years Ago is Recovered and Returned to its Owners

From our collection of “don’t ever give up on getting your stolen Corvette back” file comes this heartwarming tale from Camby, Indiana.

Back in 1973, Rex and Kay Hatton were newlyweds, making quite the lovely couple in their black 1969 Corvette convertible.

But their picture-perfect love story suddenly took a turn for the worse when someone stole their Corvette.

Police tried to find the missing car back then, and the Hattons did, too, but the Stingray was apparently gone for good and the couple eventually settled up with their insurance company.

But, as we told you earlier, “don’t ever give up on getting your stolen Corvette back.” The Hattons received a phone call last October from Ohio State Police, who said they had found the missing Stingray in Cleveland.

It took a while to get all the paperwork in line, with Rex having to prove the car had indeed been his as a 22-year-old, but he finally took possession again on Wednesday night.

“As you notice, I fit pretty good,” Rex said with a smile to WTHR-TV as he climbed behind the wheel again, with Kay smiling on the passenger side.

“Oh, honey, let’s go to the drive-in!” Kay said with a chuckle.

No word on where the Corvette has been all these years, but someone had painted it dark blue and the interior is showing signs of use over the past 45 years. Rex wasn’t complaining, though.

“It feels like I am a young kid again. For five minutes till I start getting out then I won’t be young anymore,” Rex kidded.

Maybe Kay will get to drive it this time – back in the day the Corvette was stolen before she even had a chance to get behind the wheel.

“I always said he had that done on purpose to keep me from driving it,” Kay quipped.

Rex says they plan to restore their Corvette, hopefully in time for their 50th wedding anniversary.

“It will be a slow process because we don’t have a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but if we find one we will do it in parts,” Kay said.

Source:
WTHR.com

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