Stolen 1967 Jaguar, a classic British sports car, had been stolen 46 years ago and has now been reunited with its owner. According to multiple reports, the stolen 1967 Jaguar was amongst five cars recently retrieved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex.

Ivan Schneider, the owner of the stolen 1967 Jaguar, is an 82-year-old retired trial lawyer. Schneider had already given up hope of finding his stolen 1967 Jaguar 46 years ago and never did he imagine seeing the Jag again. However, thanks to customs officials at Los Angeles docks, the man and his vehicle will once again be reunited.

 

Schneider said over the phone to customs officials, "This is just a miracle, a miracle. I was 36 years old then, and now I'm 82. It was my first good car and favorite. It's a wonderful car."

According to The Inquisitr, after the giving up hope on the stolen 1967 Jaguar, Schneider went on with life collecting other cars, though the  '67 Jaguar is unforgettable.
"I would tell stories about this great car that got stolen. I have had a lot of great cars since then, but none has been as pretty," said Schneider.

According to CBS Local, the stolen 1967 Jaguar XKE was then a year old the day it was stolen in May 13, 1968. Apparently, at the time its color was bullet gray and was then valued at $5,000. Schneider was 35 years old then and he had been living in a fancy Manhattan apartment.

The Inquisitr reports that thieves '67 Jaguar from outside of Schneider's Manhattan home. Schneider could not believe it at first and he even reportedly walked up and down the street trying to find the vehicle.

After he couldn't find his stolen 1967 Jaguar, Schneider filed a police report and lost hope of ever finding the car. He replaced it a month later with another vehicle, however reluctantly.

Schneider's hopes were dashed for decades, until earlier this month - 46 years later after the robbery.

Customs official Javier Larios reportedly called Schneider and said, "When we located the vehicle, it was in a container bound for the Netherlands."

According to the Inquisitr, the break in the case of the stolen 1967 Jaguar came after the National Insurance Crime Bureau told the Customs and Border Protection to be on the look-out for the stolen car.

According to the Los Angeles Register, California Highway Patrol officials Terry Bealey and Michael Maleta and National Insurance Crime Bureau special agent Lou Koven helped identify the stolen 1967 Jaguar. Making up the Foreign Export and Recovery outbound team, they reportedly help identify stolen or misclaimed vehicles that people plan to ship overseas.

Customs was eventually able to cross-reference the information they found a container with the 67 Jaguar and they had it returned immediately.

The Los Angeles Register reports that the California Border Patrol agents checked the Jaguar's vehicle identification number after it left the local port. They found out that the Jaguar was stolen and they notified the carrier to bring the car back to the country.

According to Koven, he called Schneider about the stolen 1967 Jaguar after they found his information from the New York City police report.

Koven said, "At first he thought it was a scam; he thought we were pulling his leg."

"Never in anybody's lifetime would I think I would see this car again. Who would believe a car would show up 45 years later?" said Schneider.

The stolen 1967 Jaguar was found along with a another stolen car, a blue 1969 Chevrolet Corvette and fraudulently obtained light brown 1976 and 2007 white Mercedes models 280 and E350, respectively and a 2014 red Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. According to CBS Local, the vehicles were on their way to the Netherlands, out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

Once the vehicles reached Europe, they would have reportedly been gone forever; therefore it had been a close call.

According to the Inquisitr, Schneider is currently planning to have his stolen 1967 Jaguar returned to New York. He wants it restored at an estimated cost of $100,000, from its current condition which would reportedly fetch about $23,600. Customs officials said the Jaguar will be worth over six figures once restored.

Still, the question remains of who stole Schneider's car that day in 1968.

According to Maleta, the owner who attempted to ship the car bought it three months ago from a man in Northern California said he had it in a garage for 40 years.

"I still have to dig deeper. (Prosecution) will be difficult, but not impossible," Maleta said.

According to the Los Angeles Register, the thief of the stolen 1967 Jaguar can face vehicle theft and possession of stolen property charges if caught.

It also remains unclear whether the containers or if customs officials will increase efforts to stop stolen cars getting shipped out of the U.S.

It had been reported by the Inquisitr that there seems to be an increase in crime being mixed in with legitimate trade.

Still, in any case, Schneider is happy to have found his stolen 1967 Jaguar.

He said, it's "My Christmas gift. I feel wonderful."

"It's a miracle. I never thought I'd see the car again," he added during a Skype call on Wednesday.

Stolen 1967 Jaguar will be reunited finally with Schneider, who lives in Miami Beach, Fla.