Towed not stolen - but a good story

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LS1GN

G-Body Guru
Aug 7, 2011
600
8
0
Central Florida
My cousin Ty has always been a gearhead. He loves anything mechanical and loves cars. It’s funny that we live far from each other but both ended up with G bodies. I have a GN clone, Ty found an excellent 1985 Monte Carlo SS a few years back and bought it on the spot. He used it as his second car/summer car for a couple years, fixing little things and always trying to use NOS parts. I teased him about waxing it so much he was going to wear the paint off! The Monte SS was burgundy with a 305 and it had fairly low miles, (I think 78,000 or so). Ty left it stock as long as he could, but ended up building a 383 small block stroker for it. He spent a small fortune on forged internals, Brodix heads and all ARP fasteners, etc. etc. The motor was top notch. Of course, he couldn’t leave the rest of the drivetrain stock, and after a couple years ended up with a brand new overdrive transmission, a 9 inch out back with a disc brake setup. Ty took it to a lot of car shows and never got to see any of the other cars because he was always polishing and shining his baby. His wife had their first child and I joked that he had two babies!
Ty was in the Army but was not a mechanic for some weird reason. When he was told he was going to Afghanistan in 2007 I figured he’d be perfect at fixing Humvees or something, but that’s not how the Army works apparently. Ty and his wife had small house with a one car garage and he wanted his wife to be able to use the garage in the winter, so he was trying to line up storage for the SS while he was overseas. The U store it places wanted a lot for a 10 x 20 room and he was trying not to spend a bunch of money. He could not find place to put his car.
My Aunt Mary is Ty’s mom. She lives kind of a chaotic life and has had some alcoholism issues it seems like her whole adult life. She has a hard time keeping a job and seems to have a new boyfriend every six months, not the most stable person if you know what I mean. Her house has a two car garage full of junk. Can you guess what happened next?
Ty made a deal to clean and organize the garage if he could store the ’85 SS in there. He thought it would be for about a year. EVERYONE told Ty not to leave the keys there, and he did not. He put the car on jack stands (so the tires would not have flat spots), and locked it and put a brand-new car cover on it. He told her not to store anything on it, but he put some foam on the trunk, roof and hood between the car and the cover because he knew junk would end up getting piled on it.
Ty was in Afghanistan for a long time. When he left his wife had just found out they were pregnant for the second time. He was able to get back to the states to see them and the baby, but didn’t get out to Mary’s house because he had to report back.
My Dad told me that Mary was having problems again and I didn’t really think anything of it. A few months passed. When my Mom and Dad mentioned going to visit her, I jokingly said check on the car. They said Ty had got his car out “before the foreclosure”. Ty was still in Afghanistan. Aunt Mary was foreclosed on while she was in rehab.
Where was the Monte!? I was freaking out on the phone with my dad about where the car was. He said he would check into it. Ty’s wife was confused, she has two little kids and practically never talks to my Aunt Mary, she knew about the rehab, but she had no clue about the foreclosure. Neighbors said that the real estate agent told them the house was abandoned. People saw a giant pile of furniture and household items put out at the street for trash pickup. Apparently lots of people stopped and picked through the stuff before trash day. The neighbors across the street only remember an old Accord (Mary’s car) and no other car. My dad called the lender and was waiting for a call back. My Dad and Mom drove out there a few weeks later and a family was renting the house. Those people knew nothing about a car in the garage and said the garage was empty the day they got the keys.
Ty gets back from Afghanistan learns the story, and is surprisingly calm. He still has the title so he can report the car stolen. He makes a bunch of calls to the police, the real estate agency, the lender, the courthouse, and gets nowhere. A few more weeks pass. He decides to take his title and go to the DMV. He explains the situation and the clerk and she does a search on her computer. Voila! there is a title request and a “mechanic’s lien” on his 1985 Chevrolet. Ty is getting excited, but is trying to process all this info. He gets the name and address of a towing company about an hour away. He goes there, and guess what is sitting in their parking lot? He is wearing his drill uniform and the people there are super nice. They were called to remove a car from a foreclosed home. The car sat in their yard for about a year and were surprised no one was coming to get it. They waived the towing and storage fees and even offered to tow it home for free!
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pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
20,391
113
Kitchener, Ontario
awesome that he got is back and that yard needs to be thanked. Nice to see some business's do what's right with a man who has served their country...
 

thepcsurgeon

Master Mechanic
Oct 10, 2013
252
26
28
Orange County, NY
Great story. Glad he got the car back. That's the first good story I have heard from a tow yard. That business owner really deserves some recognition for that. Publish the business name and info, I would like to call them and say thanks. Even send a fruit basket. Seriously!


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King_V

Master Mechanic
Jul 17, 2013
307
5
18
Sicklerville, NJ
Awesome to hear!
 
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