12:53 pm, April 25, 2025
A man from Solihull was devastated when his Honda Civic Type R was stolen from outside his home in February this year but he was even more shocked when he realised he’d bought it back.
Software engineer Ewan Valentine, 36, was adament he wanted to find as similar a car as he could to replace his beloved 2016 Type R after his was stolen.
He was thrilled to find one that was so similar he even joked to his girlfriend that he should check the VIN number and it was located only 70 miles away.
Speaking with the Sun, Valentine explained that when he did the test drive the mileage was different – as was the registration – and this put his mind at rest.
However, when he got home he started to realise strange things like pine needles from a Christmas tree, a single tent peg, and Mars bar wrappers, that he told the BBC was ‘all similar to what you’d find in my car’.
He also noticed that the locking wheel nut was wrapped in a Tesco carrier bag just like his was.
Valentine told the BBC the final straw was when he opened the sat-nav and found his and his parent’s address saved in it.
He said: ‘I nearly crashed, to be honest, because I was in shock… My hands were shaking; my heart was pounding.
‘A part of me felt sort of triumphant for a moment until I realised, actually, no, this isn’t some heroic moment; you didn’t go and get your car back; you’ve actually done something a bit stupid.’
It was then that he took it to a Honda garage to confirm his suspicions, where a technician took the original physical key out and put it in the door lock.
Valentine added that ‘you could see signs where they’d tampered with things and removed VIN numbers and replaced other ones and things’.
He informed the police who said they couldn’t believe he’d bought his own car back, having previously told him there was little to no chance he’d find out what happened to it.
The police and Honda garage both said this was one of the most convincing car clonings they’d seen and Valentine believes the dealership who sold it to him were also duped by it.
Picture credit: Ewan Valentine
