Back in 1989, the Chevrolet Corvette->ke1280 was in its fourth generation and such a model currently sells for $8,600 to $9,700. One model in particular, has an odd story that helped drive its price up to $39,471 – just about the sticker price back when it was new.

Back in 1989, a brand new `Vette was stolen from a sales lot in San Diego, CA and moved to a nearby self-storage facility where remained for 23 years un-driven, unregistered and covered in dust.

The rent for the self-storage unit started at a reasonable $50 per month, but by 2012, it had soared to $300 per month. At that point the renter – the man that was convinced to steal the car – stopped paying. Instead of allowing the storage company to place a lien on the vehicle, the renter contacted his lawyer and the lawyer, in turn, contacted the police.

When San Diego Police opened the storage facility they discovered the stolen sports car covered in dust and sitting on four flat tires. However, under all of that dust was a mint-condition 1989 Corvette with the original new car invoice sticker on its windshield, a mere 67 miles on its odometer and a new-car smell inside.

The car was sold to a wholesaler and the wholesaler then offloaded the brand new Corvette on EBay for the aforementioned $39,471. The police decided not to press charges against the thief because of the amount of time that had passed and the fact that he was very cooperative in the investigation.

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