Imagine: You love auto racing to such an extent that you're the proud owner of a sweet 1971 Plymouth Barracuda, souped up to the point you're drag racing it.
It's not a cheap hobby: By some estimates, your 'Cuda is worth 60 grand, so you warehouse your ride at a secure storage facility up in Perris.
Then, one night in early 2022, your whip vanishes, along with its trailer, your tools and even your car's spare parts.
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Flash-forward two years or so, when an Oceanside-based CHP officer gets a tip that the stolen Barracuda is in San Diego's North County, and, after an investigation, the sleuth locates it, despite the fact that it's been repainted midnight black and the VIN number was switched. The investigators later finds out the car has been flipped — traded, and bought and sold — multiple times.
On Thursday, the CHP reunited the Barracude and its rightful owner, a man officials described as an "understandably emotional victim."
In a news release sent out Friday, the CHP said the man plans on getting his car back out on the drag-racing circuit as soon as possible, and investigators thanked "local racing and classic car community members who assisted in investigating, recovering, and returning this car and its parts to its legitimate owner."
