In 1978, two kids from Los Angeles decided to pass the time by digging in their own back yard. To their utter amazement they found a Dino 246 GTS Ferrari!
With the help of local police officers and a small crew of men, the car was excavated.
After a bit of investigating, it was discovered that the car was stolen four years earlier and buried in the yard by the thieves. (It was originally bought by Rosendo Cruz of Alhambra, CA in 1974.) Miraculously, nobody who lived in the area at the time reported seeing anything strange. The then-current residents also claimed no part in being involved with the engulfed auto.
After removing the car from the yard, the Ferrari, estimated at $18,000 ($75,000 in today's money), was returned to the insurance company that had covered Cruz's loss (and paid him $22,500) and subsequently put on auction. It was rumored a mechanic bought the car and moved without a forwarding address. Regardless, the car slipped once again into obscurity.
That is, until a L.A. journalist ran a story about the missing Ferrari. The story caught the attention of a man named Brad Howard, the car's current owner. He bought the Dino in 1978 from a local businessman who bought it from the insurance company.
Why was the car buried in the first place? It is believed to have been an insurance scam. The thieves were to allegedly destroy the vehicle but loved it so much, they buried it and intended to retrieve it from the ground at a later date.
Howard is still the proud owner of the metallic green Ferrari which sports a license plate that reads “Dug up.”
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