Fathers Lost Yenko Chevelle #358034 Butternut

[Cworkman2]

Thank you, Charlie. Its another piece in the history puzzle; but once again leaves a gap from 1975 to 1984. I am contacting friends of mine in Fort Collins and seeing if they will help me with this search at the DMV.
Thank you.
Chris

[Charley Lillard]

Where was the car physically located when your Dad passed. What actual letters from your Mom, paperwork etc. You can privately send it to me if you want. We have contacts that might be able to help. Do you have a title ? Have you contacted Colorado police ?

[Cworkman2]

Charley-- I want to thank you for your offer to help me regarding the history of the car, but please forgive my apprehensiveness if I seem a little standoffish. From your previous posts you stated that you may know the current owner and alluded to him involving law enforcement if the need arises. That being said I feel it would complicate any foundation I have established by giving you my records regarding the correspondence between my mother and the Army summary court officer regarding the car. I will state that, at the time of my fathers death, the car was located at his residence at 2113 Frontier Dr. Security, Co. As you can find in this thread, the last registration for the car from 1975-76.
I am not trying offend or scoff at your genuine offer at help, but as a car collector yourself, you must understand that I have to keep my hood closed for now.
Once again, thank you for all your posts and I welcome any thoughts or comments you may have.
On a side note,
For those who have PM'ed and called with support and questions. Thank you, and thank you to the others who have posted pictures and helped me uncover the history of this car.
Regards,
Chris Workman

[Steve Shauger]

The owner of the car now and 4 (or more) previous owners had a title signed over by the previous owners. The only potential rub I see is the person titled after your father. Again we've seen no documentation or correspondence that you have alluded to justify your claim that it was stolen. Initially in the thread you stated lost and now it morphed to a stolen or claim to legal ownership. In fact your accusation could taint the car, without any facts. Contacting the present owner who has nothing to do with the transaction (which took place 35 years ago) is not where to start. Many scenarios could have taken place but without evidence you seem to claim it was taken/stolen from your mother, without it ever reported as such. To me that seems strange. I understand your concern but I can understand why the present owners hood is closed as well.

This thread has been fascinating, and although this has been a known car and in magazine since the 80's there has been a lot new info and pictures. I really appreciate you and others for sharing it with all of us.

[69hurstSC]

Where had Chris noted that he thought it was stolen? Let's not put words into someones post. I had noted that it was stolen, though I'm just a casual observer making an assessment on the information posted so far.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: paceme</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Initially in the thread you stated lost and now it morphed to a stolen </div></div>

[Steve Shauger]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 69hurstSC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Where had Chris noted that he thought it was stolen? Let's not put words into someones post. I had noted that it was stolen, though I'm just a casual observer making an assessment on the information posted so far.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: paceme</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Initially in the thread you stated lost and now it morphed to a stolen </div></div> </div></div>


Actually Wes you stated it was stolen property in several of your posts. So in fact that was really your interpretation of Chris's posts which was mine as well. See your post below:

69hurstSC Online
Glad you have the documentation between the Army and your mom. Stolen property is stolen property, whether it's a Picaso a Yenko Chevelle or a baseball glove. Someone took it upon themselves to take advantage of your mom who was no longer located in CO with your father. I feel bad for anyone who may have owned or purchased the car w/o knowing it's history, but the car was never rightfully theirs.

Chris did state many times his mother never relinquished ownership because she never signed any documents and as such has claim to legal ownership and tried to report it stolen.

In the end I only hope everyone involved get what is rightfully theirs.

[Charley Lillard]

That's OK. The current owner really was trying to help but now I'm getting the feeling that you are wanting to get the car back and not just seeking closure. The current owner has no problem with giving the car up if you can produce valid ownership etc. Right now all you are doing casting a cloud over his ownership of the car. He bought the car from a licensed and bonded dealer so he either has recourse against the dealer or at some point he will probably have to legally contact you to either substantiate your ownership or stop pursuing it.

Somehow Leroy Funk got a valid title to the car in 1984. Someone probably had valid title in order to sell it to him. If your Mom would have reported it stolen you would have no problem. It apparently wasn't worth reporting stolen when it was worth maybe 2K max but now it is more like 200K.

[Charley Lillard]

Coming back to this subject...You should want the law enforcement involved if you want to really get to the bottom of this. The current owner was offering to get law enforcement involved. The records should be in Colorado but it will involve the expense of sending or hiring someone to pull the records.

[Charley Lillard]

Do you know if your Dad owned it outright or was he making payments on it ? Could it have gone back to the lender ?

[COPO140]

Someone could have easily forged a signature on a title had they had access to it after your fathers death. Interesting read with great pics and thanks to all for sharing this cars awesome history.