Man Finds His Lost Car, 20 Years After Reporting It Stolen

A German man has finally been reunited with his missing car - 20 years after he lost it.

We've all done it - you put something down and go off to do something else, but by the time that is done you've completely lost your bearings and have no idea where it is.

Think of the film Dude, Where's My Car? and then imagine that it lasts for two decades. That gives you a bit of a glimpse into the life of this guy.

The anonymous man, who remains nameless perhaps out of embarrassment, left his Volkswagen Passat parked in a garage in an industrial building in Frankfurt in 1997.

After being unable to find it at the time he reported it stolen and sent the police off on a search for it.

Well, now the authorities have found it, in exactly the place where he left it. He obviously didn't look that hard for it.

In his defence, it was apparently hidden from sight so he may have been just metres from it and never once known that it was there.

It eventually turned up because the building that it was parked in was due for demolition. The car was getting in the way of the demolition process, but nobody knew who owned it.

It was eventually reported to the police, who were significantly better at finding the person who owned the car than they had been at finding the car in the first place.

The German newspaper Augsburger Allgemein reported that the car's owner - who is now 76 years old - was driven to pick up his vehicle with his daughter.

The bad news is that the car no longer works and refused to start.

The Frankfurt local authorities said: "The car can no longer be driven and will be sent to the scrap heap."

With any luck the guy who owns it might get a couple of euros from the scrap metal - you'd have to doubt it though.

It's not clear whether the car had a load of parking charges for leaving it in the same spot for 20 years. Given that nobody noticed it was there it would seem a tad harsh.

In 2016, a Scottish man left his car parked in a multi-storey car park in Manchester whilst he went to watch The Stone Roses at the Etihad Stadium.

If you've ever parked in a multi-storey car park, you can probably imagine the kind of parking bill that he had when he went to put his ticket in. It was probably more than the car cost in the first place.

At least Greater Manchester Police could see the funny side. Hilarious, guys.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Police, Funny, Germany, Car

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim