Stolen Car Found. 30 years later:
Dibs on the engine (if it's a Slant Six, just drain the water, add some gas, and it should fire right up.)
Ironically, "Renard, the car’s owner, died last June of exposure after a sailing accident on the bay of Green Bay. "
Don't even try to follow that link, it ends in a black hole that never lets you see anything about the car.
I might as well post it, since I jumped through hoops to find it.
Mystery solved: Car found in river was stolen in 1979, dumped Green Bay Press Gazette - Green Bay, Wis. Date: Jun 28, 2012
The mystery of the car found at the bottom of the Fox River in downtown Green Bay has been solved.
The 1975 Plymouth Valiant with Minnesota license plates was stolen in 1979 and dumped in the river, police said Wednesday afternoon.
The car belonged to Paul Renard, then 27, who had left it running outside the old Duck Duck Goose nightclub on North Clay Street on March 10, 1979. When he came out of the bar that Saturday night, the car was gone.
Renard, who died last year, reported the theft to police at the time. Family members confirmed details of the incident to police this week.
Whoever stole the car put its transmission in drive and used a tire iron to hold down the gas pedal to dump the car into the river at the end of Cherry Street, police Lt. Andy Lewis said in a statement. The pedal was rusted to the floorboard.
Evidence technicians sifted through a large amount of silt in the car, but found no other items inside, Lewis said.
A marine contractor for the Fox River cleanup found the car on Friday while using sonar to measure the depths of the river bottom. The J.F. Brennan Co. crew took photos and sent them to police. Police divers found the car in about 18 feet of water.
On Tuesday, crews used large airbags to lift and float the car, which then was towed to the Green Bay Metro Boat Launch, where it was taken out of the water. Police then moved the car to a secure facility for further investigation.
Renard, the car's owner, died last June of exposure after a sailing accident on the bay of Green Bay. He was 59 and lived in Eden Prairie, Minn., and had worked for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for more than 30 years.
Renard's family asked that the car be destroyed, Lewis said.
That's odd, I thought I ran the Valiant over a cliff, not into a river.
Nostalgia for those glorious days of yesteryear..when cars were stolen for joyrides and simply disposed of to hide the evidence. Unlike today, when lesser cars are chopped up into bits, and greater ones are smuggled out of the country to Drug Lords and Warlords who just want something fancy. 
In reply to Fletch1:
Nice.
My inlaws had a Valiant of that vintage. The owner may have driven it there himself.
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