GM reunites Detroit veteran with stolen '79 Corvette after 33 years

[Siwsan]

I LOVE this story.

DETROIT, MI- George Talley appeared flabbergasted Tuesday morning in downtown Detroit.

For the first time in 33 years, the 71-year-old Vietnam veteran started his 1979 Chevrolet Corvette, which was stolen from him along Detroit's Jefferson Avenue in 1981.

"This is overwhelming," he said. "This is a blessing to me."

On June 13, Talley received a call from AAA informing him his car had turned up in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Mississippi Police found the vehicle in connection to someone trying to register the vehicle's VIN number. But Talley, a longtime Detroit resident, wasn't sure how he was going to manage retrieving the vehicle, which is where GM came into play.

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2014/07/gm_reunites_detroit_veteran_wi.html#incart_river

[PoliticAverse]

1. Yet another GM car recall... n/t

[Scuba]

2. Great. Now if somebody could just find my Maico.

[Siwsan]

3. So little good news comes out of Detroit, lately, I just had to share

That phone call was probably the last one this guy ever expected to receive.

[Scuba]

4. Yeah, tough times for Detroit. Thanks for sharing this.

[Electric Monk]

7. Too bad that it was one of the worst Corvettes made, even according to Edmunds

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/top-10-worst-corvettes-of-all-time.html

5. 1979 Corvette L48

From the outside, the 1979 Corvette is almost indistinguishable from the 1978 edition. But in 1978 you could get the great-looking black-and-silver Indy 500 pace car or silver Silver Anniversary editions, and that made it easy to overlook how otherwise decrepit the C3 Corvette had become. But in 1979, the car was naked and the suck showed.

The base L48 version of the 1979 Corvette had a 5.7-liter V8 that made only 195 hp, barely enough to keep the 3,372-pound lump moving. Meanwhile the interior was a relentless, hideous monochrome that extended the disco-era upholstery colors onto the door panels and dashboard.

[lpbk2713]

5. I wonder if he'll have to pay back the insurance co.

They would have paid him several thousand $$ for a 79 Corvette stolen in 81.
GM got some good PR out of this maybe the ins co will forgive and forget in
the same spirit as GM.

[Siwsan]

6. You know, I was wondering about the same thing

Hopefully they will realize that the positive publicity for forgiving the payment will more than make up for what ever they paid out, 3 decades ago.

[former9thward]

8. If there was an insurance company involved they own the car.

When you accept a payment for a stolen car the title transfers to them.