World of the Bizarre

Man whose car was stolen inadvertently buys back his own car

By T.K. Randall
April 26, 2025

Image: Black Honda Civic Type R (illustrative)
Credit: MB-one / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) 36-year-old Ewan Valentine's problems began back on February 28th when he awoke to discover to his dismay that his car - a black Honda Civic - had been stolen from his driveway during the night.

After reporting it to the police and speaking to his insurance company, he decided that he wasn't going to let the theft get in the way of him owning a car of this particular make and model.

"It was sort of a mid-life crisis car, and you don't get many of those, so I was pretty determined to get it replaced before one day I have to get a sort of family car," he said.

As luck would have it, it wasn't long before he found a replacement at a reputable local garage.

"I spotted one that was identical, same color, same year, same slightly obnoxious exhaust system on it as well," he said. "It fit the bill precisely."

After buying the car, however, it wasn't long before he started to feel that something was off."I started noticing things in the car were a little bit odd, like a single tent peg and some Christmas tree pines and some, like, Mars bar wrappers and things that they hadn't cleaned out," he said.

"All very similar to what you could have found in my stolen car."

It turned out that there was a very simple explanation for all of this.

His new car was in fact the exact same vehicle that had been stolen from his driveway.

"I nearly crashed, to be honest, because I was in shock... My hands were shaking; my heart was pounding," he said.

It soon became apparent that the car had been stolen to order by criminals and that if he hadn't recognized the odds and ends lying around inside it, nobody would have ever been any the wiser.

"The police and the Honda garage all said this was one of the best clone jobs they'd ever seen, so if it wasn't for these little artefacts, no one would have ever known," he said.

Source: BBC News

Tags: Car