'66 Ford Mustang stolen 37 years ago resurfaces but disappoints owners

Any classic car lover would give anything to get back a 1966 Mustang, but the owner of this car decided to take another action on his car, which was stolen almost 40 years ago.

More than 37 years since Dorothy LaMunion's 1966 Mustang was stolen from her home, the Las Vegas resident hasn't given much thought to the classic car in recent years, but she still came face to face with it again. not quite as expected.

LaMunion bought the car in October 1983 for his 16-year-old daughter and she was gone six weeks later. The Metropolitan Police Department had no record of the car theft, likely due to how long ago the theft took place.

"I didn't get full coverage, so it didn't cost anything," LaMunion told local media. “I paid $2,500 for it, so insurance won't pay anything for a $2,500 car. So it didn't cost anything," he added.

How did you hear about the car and its new appearance?

LaMunion still owns the house from which the Mustang was stolen, however she has leased it to a tenant. The woman knew nothing about the car until a charter appeared in the same house, from which the car was stolen almost four decades ago and which was sent to her by her tenant.

The letter informed him that his car was at Ashley Towing, a towing company in Las Vegas. In this letter, the woman was asked to provide the name of the vehicle and pay $801.82 in reunification fees with the long-lost vehicle.

The letter was dated February 9, and according to the letter, the towing company has given LaMunion until March 14 to collect the car before it is auctioned off.

But because the car was out for so long, LaMunion didn't have the title and was told it could take weeks to get one. The tow company did not allow LaMunion to see the car or tell him where it was found or what condition it was in without a document on hand.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles then alerted her to the possibility of expedited registration of duplicates. He quickly filled out the form and sent it via FedEx.

Last Friday, LaMunion, his granddaughter Jenna Horn and his great granddaughter Amira showed up at Ashley's with the title in tow, with high hopes that the car would be in good condition. The plans were to repair and give the car to Amira, as she will soon turn 16.

Why did the owner of the car choose not to return the car?

Arriving at Ashley's, the women were put into a Mustang that LaMunion hadn't seen in almost 40 years, but much to her and her family's chagrin, the car was far from in the condition in which, in her opinion, it could be repaired.

The blue Mustang turned out to be faded, sitting on blocks due to the lack of wheels, hood, doors and significant rust.

“We were hoping to get it out of the yard and maybe fix it up and use it,” Horne said, adding, “but it looks like it has been taken apart.”

Horne said a spokesperson for Ashley's Towing said the car was likely in the backyard for a while, but he had no other information about the car's past.

Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to pick it up from a warehouse, LaMunion decided to let the towing company put the car up for auction. While it wasn't the happy ending the family had hoped for, LaMunion said it was still nice to end a story that hadn't been finished in so many years.

"Everything is fine; I already lost it 40 years ago. Not that I lost it today,” LaMunion said. “It was more curiosity than anything else. I feel bad because you can't run and we can't fix it for this 16 year old girl, but we can't," added the owner of the classic.

 

Features of the 1966 Ford Mustang

Introduced on October 1, 1965, the 1966 Mustang is a classic that any collector would love to have in their garage, and while it hasn't changed much from the 1965 model, it's certainly worth collecting. Changes were practically limited to the aesthetic plane. The front grille featured horizontal chrome strips, and inside the dash, the dashboard of the 1965 GT versions was unified across the entire model range.

Another innovation was the standard seat belts in the front and rear seats in accordance with new regulations at the federal level. On the other hand, 3 horizontal chrome trims on the rear fender were added as an option.

In March 1966, the millionth Mustang was built, less than two years after the launch of this legendary model. Mustang sales accounted for 1% of the US automotive market. That year, 7.1% of cars were automatic and 62.8% were power steering. Servo brakes were standard on "GT" (large touring) cars.

Motorization

The 1966 Ford Mustang offered an 8 V4.735 engine with 200, 225 or 271 hp. 200 hp engine had a 2-barrel carburetor, and the 225 and 271 engines had a 4-barrel carburetor.

In 1965, only 6.996 cars were produced with a powerful 271 hp engine. and all with a 4-speed manual transmission.

In the same year they released the Fastback 2+2 edition designed by Joe Oros. Said car was considered the most beautiful Mustang and was produced in relatively limited numbers compared to the hardtop coupe.

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