People who have had their car stolen usually go through stages: denial, disappointment, anger, hope, and abandonment. When the automotive community finds out that a valuable car was stolen, forums and blogs light up like a Christmas tree with warnings and alerts. When that same car gets returned, the whole automotive community rejoices as they all discuss what type of punishment is “too good” for the thief.

Seeing a car returned to it’s rightful owner is something we all like to see, and something we all like to comment on because some of us know that pain all too well, either from experience or from a friend who had their own car stolen. When the car isn’t returned, everyone gets kind of peeved at the whole situation, and rightfully so – we gearheads need to stick together on these issues and let the victim know we’re pulling for them.

After all the denial and disappointment has subsided, and the anger and frustration is gone, we’re left with the feeling of abandonment as we get back to our lives without our favorite ride.

Perhaps for a few weeks, every time the phone rings we hope it’s a call from the local Sheriff, telling us they located our car, but eventually we give up hope on those calls, too. But imagine not giving up… imagine that you didn’t give up hope after 20 years, or even 30 years you still had hope of getting your car back. Would that be the breaking point for you to finally give up thinking you’ll get it back?

Then imagine that authorities contacted you about your stolen car 46 years after it had been stolen. That’s half a lifetime for most people, but that’s exactly what happened to Ivan Schneider, from New York. His 1967 Jaguar XK-E was stolen from Schneider’s residence a year after he bought it and he hadn’t seen it since.

When the classic Jag was found, it was in a shipping container en route to the Netherlands when it was ordered for the ship to return to the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex. But the Jag wasn’t the only stolen car found, as four other cars were also recovered by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection who partnered with a National Insurance Crime Bureau Special Agent and a California Highway Patrol-Investigative Services Unit.

Interestingly enough, the guy shipping the car bought it three months ago from a man in San Joaquin Valley who had it for 40 years.  The other cars, as seen in the accompanying photograph, include both old and new. They seized a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, as well as a pair of fraudulently obtained Mercedes Benz models from 1976 and 2007. No word was given on the two Chevrolets or the Mercedes’, but finding a poker-hand of hot cars is a pretty good find.

When asked about his Jaguar, Schneider said he used to drive it about 90 to 100 mph on the weekends on highways in New York, but now that he has it back he’ll restore it and take it a little easier on it. “”I’ll use it as a Sunday car, they were never reliable”, he said.