Name: Stolen car returned to elderly owner after community effort
Uploaded: 2025-11-08T06:37:36.174Z
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Description: An incredible act of love has left an 86-year-old man in tears. A community effort has led to the restoration of his classic Holden that was stolen and torched, turning his nightmare into a dream come true.

An incredible act of love has left an 86-year-old man in tears. A community effort has led to the restoration of his classic Holden that was stolen and torched, turning his nightmare into a dream come true.

Melbourne

Ross Costa, aged 86, was reunited with his beloved 1979 Kingswood in Melbourne after the car was stolen from his family shed and severely burnt in 2023 while he was ill. Believing the car was lost forever, Ross was surprised when his son Alf secretly organized a restoration with help from the local motoring community.

The restoration involved hundreds of hours of work, including salvaging parts from a donor vehicle and rebuilding the original chassis, engine, and transmission. The car was unveiled at Shannon's showrooms, with only the compliance plate showing evidence of its ordeal. The project brought together panel shops, mechanics, and engine builders to return Ross's prized possession to its former glory.

Stolen car returned to elderly owner after community effort

There were no words, just disbelief. 86-year-old Ross Costa reunited today with his beloved 1979 Kingswood. You want to see the engine? Let's have a look at the engine. The last time he saw it, it was blackened and burnt beyond recognition after being stolen from the family shed in 2023 while he was battling illness. It's his life. He bought it brand new. He waited for it. It was his prized possession. When they took it off him and it got stolen, it was like someone ripped his heart out. Ross thought his pride and joy was gone forever, but his son Alf had other plans, rallying the local motoring community in secret. All I wanted to do is turn a bad story into a good story. The labour of love taking hundreds of hours. We first got the burnt car in and then I was trying to strip that and work out what we could use and then got the donor car in and then we stripped and worked out what we could use out of that. The result unveiled at Shannon's showrooms, restored to its former glory with its original chassis, engine and transmission rebuilt. Detailed it, painted it, got all the auxiliary stuff prepped and painted and reconditioned and whatever we needed to do. There is nothing old in that engine, just the silhouette of the outside of it. Panels and seats taken from a donor vehicle, lovingly repaired and reupholstered. So many people have been involved, the panel shop, the mechanics, the engine builders. All with the shared goal of getting Ross back behind the wheel. It brought a tear to my eye, it's just amazing. Just to see his face, seeing the car gone, my baby. No evidence of the car's journey, except for the compliance plate, its only remaining scar. You have to sit to believe this has happened, it's like a dream come true. Rebecca Powell, 10 News.

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