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Man Accidentally Discovers, Buys Back Dad’s Old 1978 Vauxhall VX90 Police Car

Here’s one of those stories bound to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside: a man stumbled across his father’s old police car by accident and made sure to buy it, so as to bring it back home.
Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90 6 photos
Photo: Greg Barnett / SWNS
Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90Greg Barnett is reunited with his late father's police car, a fully restored 1979 Vauxhall VX90
Not everything is bleak in 2020. This lovely reunion story comes from Chester-le-Street, Durham County, in the UK, where retired policeman Greg Barnett was browsing the web, looking for a used car. He never imagined the one he’d come across would hold such significance to him.

Barnett tells the Birmingham Mail that he was on eBay when he saw the ad for a newly restored 1978 Vauxhall VX90. A single look at it and he immediately recognized the car: it used to belong to his late father, Barrie Barnett, who was a driver training instructor for Durham Constabulary. Greg says his father would drive the Vauxhall, also known as Vauxhall Victor, for work, training other officers “on the skid pan.” As a kid, Greg himself would ride in it many times.

He contacted the seller, who was asking £9,000 ($11,571) for it, and made arrangements to ship it from Wells, Somerset to Durham. From the seller, Nathan Willmott, Greg found out that there were a couple of receipts under the dashboard, bearing the late officer’s signature. Greg had last seen the car in 2008, two years after his father died.

Willmott does not say how he came across the Vauxhall, but he says bringing it back in tip top shape was no easy feat because it had been neglected for a very long time. He spent the entire lockdown toiling away on it, during what he describes as many late nights and early mornings. He also believes this is the “only British police car of its kind in existence,” in the sense that no other has survived.

Now, Gregg has been reunited with his father’s lost car and the fact that it happened by mere chance is what makes this story all the more touching. Some might even call that fate.

“It brought a lot of memories flooding back. It’s as if the car has come back home,” Greg tells the publication of the unexpected reunion.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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