Since the summer of ‘76, Ron Leung thought his stolen 1956 Ford Thunderbird was ‘Like the Roman Empire - history’, That is until he got a call from palo Alto, California Plice last week, almost 31 years to the day after it disappeared.

     Now he’s anxious to get the car back to palo Alto from Southern California where it was recovered, reportedly in good shape.
     the port windows, purring V-8 and continental wheel kit in the back have haunted Leung since the car disappeared. he’d spy a ‘56 T-Bird at a car show and melt, thinking of the one he had restored and then lost. Now he’s curious to see what it looks like.
     In some ways, Leung said, the car was alwways meant to be his. In 1976 he was searching for a 1956 T-Bird, the only year with the chromed spare tire holder, only to find one for sale, just three doors down from his father’s Palo Alto restaraunt.
     “I fell in love’ he said.
     The then 28 year old got busy. He stripped off the Sea Spray Blue paint and replaced it with white, making it match the T-Bird that mystery blonde Suzanne Summers cruised around in during American Graffiti.
     Three years later, Leung parked the restored car in the lot of his auto shop in Palo Alto. The next day th echain blocking the lot was cut and the car was gone.
     From his perch at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s department, where the retired deputy worked at the time, Leung would check th e computer system to see if his car had turned up. Nothing - for weeks and then months and then he quit checking.
     Last week, the car showed up at a California Highway patrol office in Southern California. A woman who bought the car through ebay from someone in Ohio, bought it, Sea Spray Blue again, to the CHP, according to Palo Alto police officer Brian Philip, onec CHP officers found the VIN, they relized it didn’t match the number on the title. The yran the car through a state database and it came up stolen.

     “I feel bad for the woman who bought it,” said Lung. He’s not sure how much she spent on it, but similar cars on eay can sell for as much as $20,000. Leung spent about $1,500 for it in ‘73. The CHP reports it is still in cherry condition, the odometer reads 24,979 miles. Said Leung, now 59, with a laugh, ‘it’s karma’.

Here’s a picture of Mr Leung’s car, very nice. I can see why he was attached to it.

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