The Million-Dollar Car Detective

In 2001, thieves parked a box truck in front of an aging tycoon’s factory, cut the phone lines, and used an overhead crane to lift out their prize: a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop coupe—“the most beautiful car in the world” and one of only two in existence—then they disappeared into the night.

The tycoon died. The trail went cold. End of story.

Until it wasn’t.

In 2015, Joe Ford was a PI trying to scrape together enough money to help his daughter, who suffers from a disease causing her to go blind, when he got a tip.

A mechanic in the French Alps had been burned by a thief and had a secret to share: the location of the missing Talbot-Lago.