Stolen Jaguar XKE Found on Ship 46 Years Later

Convertible British Sports Car Among Five Autos Seized

By The Maritime Executive 09-19-2014 10:10:00

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in partnership with a National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) Special Agent and a California Highway Patrol-Investigative Services Unit Investigator assigned to the Foreign Export and Recovery (FEAR) outbound team at the Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB) seaport complex, recently recovered and seized five automobiles ranging from 47 years old to brand new.

Stolen 46 years ago in New York, in a container en route to the Netherlands, a white, two door 1967 Jaguar XKE convertible was discovered and ordered returned.

When only a year old, that British sports car was taken from its residence between 11:15 p.m. on March 13, 1968, and 7:50 a.m. the following morning. It was a bullet grey color then, valued at $5,000.

Today, in fair condition, it is worth about $23,600; others in better condition can fetch near $100K.

The collectible will be reunited with its excited owner who lives in Florida now and remarked over the phone, “This is just a miracle, a miracle. I was 36 years old then and now I’m 82. It was my first good car and favorite. It’s a wonderful car. I used to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning on either Saturday or Sunday and drive it 90 to 100 (mph) on the highway in New York. It was good for the engine in a car like that. I bought it brand new. I had it less than a year. I’m going to restore it. And, if anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’m very proud of my government.”

The four other cars seized are a stolen 1969 blue Chevrolet Corvette, and fraudulently obtained 1976 light brown and 2007 white Mercedes models 280 and E350, respectively and 2014 red Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.