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Carsales Staff20 Sept 2014
NEWS

Stolen E-Type recovered after 46 years

Iconic Jag was on the high seas in transit to Netherlands... inside a shipping container
An 82-year old former New Yorker has been reunited with the Jaguar E-Type he bought as a 36-year old. 
It's a story with a happy ending, but much of the car's life has been shrouded in mystery, reports Mashable.com. 
The 1967 model XKE, stolen in March of 1968, had been purchased from new by its legal owner, Ivan Schneider, who now resides in Florida. Despite his advanced years, Ivan plans to restore the car, which is estimated to be worth US $23,600 in its current state – repainted white from its original 'Bullet Grey' – but may be worth as much as US $100,000 restored to "excellent condition."
Over on the west coast of the USA, customs officials in California were alerted to the possibility of a stolen car being shipped out of the country when they matched the vehicle's VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) to a vehicle reported stolen years earlier. By the time the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, the container ship had already set sail and was just days away from docking. Contacted by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the ship turned west and returned to port in America. 
Customs contacted the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which found the car's original owner now living in Florida. The California Highway Patrol is still attempting to find the person who stole the car back in 1968. Records indicate that a man living in California had owned the car just three months prior to loading it for shipping to the Netherlands. He had purchased the vehicle from another Californian who had owned the vehicle for almost 40 years. 
For his part, Ivan Schneider is over the moon. 
"It was my first good car and favourite," he told CBP officials over the phone. "It's a wonderful car.  I used to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning on either Saturday or Sunday and drive it 90 to 100 [mph] on the highway in New York.  It was good for the engine in a car like that.  I bought it brand new.  I had it less than a year.  I'm going to restore it.
"And, if anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm very proud of my government."
According to CBP, the Jaguar was just one of several desirable cars recently recovered; the others including a stolen Chevy Corvette from 1969 and two Mercedes models and a current Chevy Camaro ZL1 all obtained fraudulently. 
Picture courtesy of US Customs and Border Protection
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