In
India if your car is stolen, it’s virtually difficult to ever get it back. In
the US, there is a good possibility of getting it back, albeit a lot of years
later! A Chevrolet Corvette owned by George
Talley, who is now 71 years old, was stolen when it was parked on Jefferson
Avenue in 1981. He must have been around 38 years old when he lost his
favourite car!
Now,
after almost 33 years, in June of 2014 Talley received a call from AAA
informing him his car had turned up in Hattiesburg, Miss. (US). Talley and his
prized ’79 Chevrolet Corvette were reunited at General Motors’ world
headquarters on July 1, 2014, three miles from where the car was stolen from
him more than three decades ago.
“It
was a lucky day to hear that my car had been found. They told me it was
running, had 47,000 miles on it and was ready for me to pick up!” said Talley.
Talley
had always been a Corvette fan since he
saw his neighbour’s first-generation Corvette in the 1950s. Talley was fortunate
to own three more Corvettes, but the ’79 was always his favourite.
Talley’s
luck did not stop there. When Mark Reuss, executive vice president for GM
Product Development, heard his story on the news, he offered to ship the car
home to Detroit.
“George’s
story brought a smile to my face,” said Reuss. “As a longtime Corvette owner
myself, I know the passion the car inspires. I also knew that car belonged home
in Detroit, with its rightful owner, and we could make that happen,” he added.