Connecticut Police seize rare stolen Ferrari 250 PF Cabrio
We're tying to figure out which is the greater nightmare scenario. On one side, you have a collector who had his ultra-rare and extremely valuable classic Ferrari stolen. On the other, you have another collector who had the same Ferrari seized by state troopers. One car, two collectors, and one very unfortunate set of circumstances.
The car in question is a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolet, one of only 40 made. It was owned by a collector in Switzerland until it was stolen from a warehouse in Spain in 1993. The owner refused to collect compensation from the car's insurers, certain as he was that such a rare vehicle would turn up sooner or later. Fast forward fifteen years to the residence of Paul Hallingby in Sharon, Connecticut, where the Motor Vehicle Fraud Task Force of the Connecticut State Police showed up to take possession of the car. Hallingby, who paid over half a million for the car, now worth millions, is reportedly cooperating with the authorities. However, few details are known about the car's whereabouts in the intervening years except that it is believed to have been smuggled into the country through New Jersey where it was given a false Vehicle Identification Number. Hallingby is surely devastated, but the collector in Switzerland must be elated to be reunited with his baby after fifteen years.
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TJ 5:39PM (9/09/2008)
No good can come from this case.
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MachinaDC5 5:41PM (9/09/2008)
I can't imagine how the collector in Switzerland feels. Though I'd put it somewhere between orgasm and utter rapture.
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Remus 7:20PM (9/09/2008)
nice
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Brian 6:08PM (9/09/2008)
Im surprised his insurance was even going to pay him for it. Oh wait, they would have given him the depreciated value for it. Good thing the guy waited.
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Rocketboy 6:13PM (9/09/2008)
"Connecticut Police seize rare stolen Ferrari"
Well, I guess if it's a rare Ferrari, it would be rare that it would be stolen, but I think that you intended to say that it was a stolen rare Ferrari.
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ericdj 6:25PM (9/09/2008)
Most people would get the insurance payout and the insurance company would make a nice profit reselling the car after its recover. Good job smart collector
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Realitycheck 6:40PM (9/09/2008)
Try driving one of these old cars and it is like driving a ten year old PickUp. Plus they don't age very well and always need something. Plus if you drive them they loose their value. Just think what it is like to replace a hose or tires that they don't make any more, the cost goes through the roof.
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Jason 7:22PM (9/09/2008)
Well you can have your 10 year old pick up but I'm going to have to take the classic Ferrari.
Pokey 11:53PM (9/09/2008)
A true car person would never even consider making such an ignorant comment. Get out of here, and go post a comment on FlowerBlog.
RealityCheck 6:54PM (9/09/2008)
Most Insurance companies would offer the customer the right to buy it back at the amount that they paid. Insurance companies are not allowed to profit from the return of stolen property. They were out of the money either way and this way they are made whole just like an insured would be. If not people would never trust an insurance company. Wait what did I just write........ But really strange laws cover insurance claims dating back to when we sailed the sea's and we
are just now finding the lost treasure's. The insurace company has first rights if the company that had the policy no longer exists, but the insurance company would need to be paid back from the find.
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Gardiner Westbound 8:45PM (9/09/2008)
How Could Hallingby NOT Know this Ferrari Was Stolen?
http://tinyurl.com/6jwxfm
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bakka 1:59AM (9/10/2008)
My exact thoughts.
BMWdownshift 11:03PM (9/09/2008)
I'm still waiting for 92 civic
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Dave 12:05PM (9/10/2008)
Remember the movie "To catch a thief?" At the end of the movie, a collector wanted the piece of art so badly that he ignored the fact that it was stolen.
The fact that there was a 10 years gap as to the history of this Ferrari would have been a clue. It seems to me that there is a group of Ferrari collectors who are committing fraud by ignoring whether their Ferraris were stolen or not.
The original collector still has two Ferraris missing.
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