A rare Jaguar XKE convertible stolen 46 years ago will be returned to its owner thanks to an eagle-eyed customs agent.

The Californian Highway Patrol are trying to figure out who might have stolen it from outside a New York apartment and why it was in a Californian garage for 40 years.

A man who had recently bought the car submitted paperwork to US Customs and Border Protection in June, and an analyst who checked the vehicle saw it had been reported stolen.

By that time, the 1967 Jaguar was en route to the Netherlands, a hot market for vintage cars, and authorities arranged to have the ship operator bring the car back to California.

According to US Customs, the 82-year-old original owner of the car, retired attorney Ivan Schneider, has called the find a "miracle" and said he planned to restore it.

"It's a wonderful car," Mr Schneider said.

He said he would often wake up at 4:00am on weekends just to push the car to its limits, reaching speeds of 160kph on highways in New York.

The car is worth $US23,600 and not the $US100,000 such a model could fetch because it had rust and needed parts replaced.

The Californian man who shipped the car bought it a few months ago from a man in Turlock, California, who in turn said it was in his garage for 40 years.

The former owner was looking for the paperwork from when he bought the car.

Reuters