GTA: Seattle. Calendar Car, Truck And Trailer Stolen

(Published September 2, 2021)- One of the cars to be featured in next years' Dwyer and Michaels Classic Car Calendar was stolen, along with it's trailer and the truck hauling them. It happened while owner Joe Nichols was  staying over night  in Seattle on a return trip from California.  How he got it back is a million-to-one shot.

Nichols spent the last 4 years and thousands of man hours restoring and customizing his 1961 Chevy Impala, and had transported it directly from our calendar shoot August 21st to Pleasanton, California.  Personally speaking, the car was beautiful.  The kind of custom piece every car enthusiast hopes to create one day, if you have unlimited time and resources. The resulting one-of-a-kind rod is the stuff dreams are made of.

But Joe's dream car became a nightmare while he slept in a Seattle hotel.  The group of thieves broke the window of his truck and took off, driving the tuck, trailer and Impala away from the hotel.  Naturally, Joe was heartbroken. What happens next is when the story gets remarkable.  While Joe was giving a statement to a police officer in the hotel lobby, a call came in on the cops radio, asking for a description of the car.

Hear the Full Story Here:

It seems the officer on the other end of the radio was a "car guy," and had spotted something weird while off duty:  A group of "kids" were pushing a pretty nice car that still had tie-down straps hanging from the rear axle. He noticed them pushing the car down a small dirt road off the highway.  It seemed odd to him, and while he had heard the description of the stolen truck and trailer, he wasn't sure what kind of car was inside.  Upon hearing the description, the officer blocked the road with his personal vehicle, and called in the location for backup.

It seems the young 'entrepreneurs' were planning to strip what parts they could, and load them into awaiting vehicles down in the woods.  When they realized they were caught, they took off driving into the woods, with the cops giving chase, eventually crashing into the trees.  The cops arrested them, and Joe finally made it to the scene to survey the damage to his beauty, and try to get it back up the hill to the truck and trailer.

Joe says if it weren't for the quick thinking Milton Police Department and its officers and dispatch, his prized vehicle would be destroyed, or gone forever.

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