A Kansas man woke up to find his classic fastback Mustang gone. He used the power of social media to get it back.
Not all nightmares occur when you’re asleep. Some of them take place in broad daylight when you’re wide awake. A man in Wichita, Kansas lived through one when he woke up on July 23 to find his 1965 Ford Mustang GT fastback had been stolen from his locked garage.
Kevin Pappan told KSN.com, “I never thought I’d see it again.” Instead of curling up into a ball and crying about the loss of a car he’d spent months restoring, he took action. Pappan filed a police report and then went on Facebook to spread the word about his pilfered pony car, which he had named “Katherine,” after its original owner.
He told the members of a group called “Stolen Vehicles of Wichita,” which helps victims of car theft try to get their cars back, what had happened. Pappan had lost more than just a financial investment. He had lost something he had put so much passion into. “I think I got it from my dad. My dad was always a car enthusiast. I grew up around that.”
It only took 45 minutes for him to get a call from a stranger who had seen his Facebook post telling him that they had spotted his olive green machine. Whoever had taken it had left it just two miles away from Pappan’s house.
From the looks of Pappan’s car, it doesn’t seem as if the thief did any damage to it – on the outside, at least. It’s hard to tell from the footage whether or not they vandalized the interior. Given the circumstances, our theory is that the booster took Pappan’s care on a dare.
The Wichita Police Department met with Pappan after he recovered the car to gather more information. At this point, Pappan still doesn’t know who swiped his wheels, but he does know he has a new friend in the man who helped him get his Mustang back. In return, Pappan gave him $100. “It’s almost like we’re brothers now.”
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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