This year marks the 30th anniversary of Pulp Fiction, the film that marked a before and after in the history of cinema and in the career of Quentin Tarantino. Three decades after its release, this film continues to be a reference in pop culture, not only for its innovative narrative and memorable dialogues, but also for the anecdotes surrounding its production, such as the theft of the 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu, owned by Tarantino.
This red convertible car, driven by Vincent Vega – played by John Travolta – in an iconic scene, was stolen in 1995, just a year after the film’s release, marking the beginning of a story that could be taken from one of Tarantino’s scripts.
Thus, for twenty years, the whereabouts of the Chevrolet Malibu was a mystery, until in 2013, completely unexpectedly, it was recovered by the police in California: the location of the car occurred almost by accident, during the investigation of an unknown case. related.
A police officer in Victorville, California, stumbled upon the Chevrolet while investigating two suspects. The vehicle identification number (VIN) check revealed a striking match to another Malibu in Oakland, leading to the discovery that the VIN had been cloned in an effort to conceal the car’s illicit origin.
The recovery of the Malibu not only put an end to years of mystery, but also uncovered a big problem. The Oakland owner, who had spent more than $40,000 restoring the car thinking everything was in order, suddenly found himself in the middle of a legal nightmare, with no knowledge of its provenance.
Finally, it was not revealed whether the car was returned to Tarantino, who had surely already given it up for lost after 19 years without it. What is certain is that this discovery left open questions about compensation and punishment for those involuntarily involved in the theft.
