Allison Gatlin

The Salinas Californian

Not even Wilson Pickett could capture Lynda Alsip's excitement Monday morning when she was reunited with her 1967 Mustang — 28 years after it was stolen in Salinas.

Alsip, now of Hollister, bought her first car for $800 in 1985. The formerly "pea-green" classic Mustang was hard-earned after a summer of "bagging groceries and shlepping carts," Alsip said. At 17, it was her first car.

In 1986, Alsip went out of town with friends. Until Monday, that was the last time she saw her classic car.

Alsip's car was stolen from her apartment complex in Salinas.

"I never thought this (car) would come back into my life," she said.

Then, in September, a Salinas man attempted to register a forest green 1967 Mustang at the California Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV officials fruitlessly tried to locate any records on the decades'-old car.

The local man was referred to the California Highway Patrol. Eventually, the car fell under Officer Christopher Menchen's eye. He ultimately traced it back to Alsip's mother, who was the registered owner in 1986 and still lives in Salinas.

How the vehicle came to be in the Salinas man's garage is a mystery, said CHP Officer Jaime Rios. The man purchased the vehicle in 1991 as a project. By the time he tried to register it with the DMV, he'd already done some of the remodeling.

Strangely, the car never left Salinas, Rios said. Alsip said the fact boggled her mind.

"It's astonishing that it has stayed here," she said. "For so many years and not so far away. I wonder how many times I might have driven past the house or been in the area?"

Alsip said she was expecting a starkly different message when the CHP called her in September. Neither of her children, ages 19 and 23, were home when she got the call.

"Given neither of my children were home and it was the Highway Patrol, I thought something had happened to my children," she said.

The actual reason for the call turned out to be a "stunner," she said.

"The officer asked me if I'd ever had a car stolen and I said, 'Oh my God, you found my green '67 Mustang!'" she said. "I just blurted it out."

After answering a barrage of questions and waiting out the months'-long — and still ongoing — investigation, Alsip was given the go-ahead to pick up her car Monday at California Towing in Salinas.

Pulling up, Alsip's smile widened as she was handed the keys and sat down in the driver's seat.

"Wow! That brought back a flood of emotions," she later said. "I didn't think that it would but it certainly did."

Years ago, Alsip's late father taught her to maintain the Mustang. Today, he would have laughed at the Mustang's recovery and said, "Only you, kid," Alsip said.

Even before heading to the DMV to register her Mustang, Alsip's husband, Montgomery Alsip, had already put her personalized plates on the car — "LYNDA 67." Alsip ordered them shortly before her car was stolen. Twenty-eight years later, she was ready to put them on her car.

Although the vehicle isn't drivable now, Alsip said her husband and son shouldn't have any problems restoring it to its former pristine condition. And even though she recognizes the price her Mustang could fetch, Alsip said she isn't ever going to part with it.

"To me, it's just priceless, really," she said.

Alsip recalled her first ticket, which she accepted from behind the wheel of her 1967 Mustang nearly 30 years ago. Ironically, it was a highway patrolman who stopped her for a traffic violation.

"For wearing a Walkman and listening to music," she said. "I probably shouldn't have been. ... Wow, full circle."

Now, all she wants to do is ride around — just like Mustang Sally, of whom Pickett sings.

"I'm sure I'm probably going to cry a bit in my first drive in it. But it's going to be exhilarating," Alsip said. "And I pray to God I don't get a ticket in it my first drive in it because I'm probably going to want to go just a little fast."

Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter @allison_salnews #salinas.