A tale of buried treasure involving an expensive gift, an insurance scam, a hasty burial in L.A., and an unexpected happy ending. Outlandish, perhaps, but no Hollywood screenwriter dreamt this up.

It doesn’t happen very often that a prized sports car goes missing, only to be literally dug up as part of a police investigation years later and end up being fully restored by a car enthusiast.

Bizarre though it seems, this is exactly what happened to the story’s undisputed star - a Dino.

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Scene One - A Plumber’s Gift

The Dino is also known as one of the greatest models ever to come out of the factory of that most famous of Italian sports car manufacturers, Ferrari.

The story begins in 1974 in California when a wealthy plumber (they seemed to make a lot of money even then) gave his wife a $22,500 Ferrari Dino as a gift.

Unfortunately, the couple didn’t get to enjoy it for long. One evening while they were out celebrating their wedding anniversary at a plush restaurant in Wilshire Boulevard, the Dino was stolen.

The car vanished into thin air until four years later when L.A. police detectives Dennis Carroll and Joe Sabas became involved in the case after receiving a tip-off from an informer.

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Scene Two – What’s That In Your Backyard?

He told them an unlikely story about a sports car that had been secretly buried in a private backyard of a quiet neighborhood as part of an insurance scam. Knowing that the informer was not averse to partaking in recreational drugs, the two detectives took the information with a pinch of salt.

But their curiosity was piqued, and they decided to check the property out. While prodding the yard with sticks, Carroll detected an unmistakable metallic clunk. He hastily ordered a digger to dig up the yard, and much to everyone's surprise, the bedraggled two-seater sports car emerged from the ground. The informer had indeed been telling the truth.

In a bizarre gesture to preserve the vehicle, the thieves had thrown a few rugs on top of the car and stuffed some towels inside the cabin, presumably in a vain attempt to absorb moisture. Luckily for the car, California had been suffering from a severe drought during the four years it had lain underground, which helped keep humidity to a minimum.

Details of the investigation are sketchy, but it appears neither the car owner nor the thieves were ever caught due to a lack of evidence.

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Scene Three – You’re Going To Need A Bigger Paint Job

The Dino eventually went up for auction. It was in such a sorry state that it fetched no more than $9,000, but it was snapped up from the successful bidder by realtor and car enthusiast Brad Howard. He then took it to an Italian sports car specialist in Los Angeles for an overhaul.

On viewing the vehicle, Giuseppe Cappalonga didn’t hold out much hope for the diminutive sports car. “It looked like it had chickenpox,” he concluded witheringly. The paintwork may have been heavily pitted with rust, but it had also done a good job of devouring the wheels and the camshaft cover.

To add insult to injury the engine hood, windscreen and roof had been damaged by workmen in their clumsy efforts to drag the car out of the ground.

Although Howard had a limited budget, he was at least determined to give the Dino the best paint job money could buy, insisting that the dark, metallic green paint formula used for the re-spray should come directly from the Ferrari factory. It took about a month to repaint the car from bare metal and to heat-treat the damaged bodywork, as no filler was used. The only serious damage was a hole that had been cut out by the thieves to remove the ‘Dino’ rear nameplate, evidently to keep as a trophy.

Via Youtbe

Final Scene – A Little Treasure Goes A Long Way

The interior was also renovated, and the seats’ interiors were re-foamed. In addition, Howard splashed out on expensive Campagnolo wheels designed specifically for the model.

In the meantime, Cappalonga stripped out the engine and replaced the water pump as well as three pistons and rings. Amazingly, the 2.0 liter V6 didn’t need a lot more work, aside from an obvious oil change.

The cherry on the cake was to fit the car with a new license plate. Howard ditched the original ‘832LJQ’ registration number and added the far cheekier and more appropriate ‘DUG UP’ in its place. It was a fitting tribute to a car that had been raised from the dead and brought back to life, thanks to a team effort.

To date, the car still runs and regularly goes on display at classic car shows. Unlike other Dinos, which have been heavily modified, 'DUG UP' is an original with a unique and remarkable history.

Clearly, the realtor struck gold when he bought the Dino, as prime examples of this beautifully proportioned iconic sports car – a delight to drive even by today’s standards – can set owners back hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Via Youtube

Now that’s what you call getting mileage out of buried treasure.

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