A man from Tennessee, whose Volkswagen Beetle was stolen from him over 40 years ago, thought he'd never see his prized Bug again.

In 1974, Joseph MacDonald said he was out with a group of friends when his 1965 Beetle was stolen, according to a report by The Detroit Press.

The vehicle was recently discovered in Detroit. The last owner, a Michigan resident, claimed he didn't know the history of the Beetle.

The car was being shipped to Canada and then to Finland to be restored.

A Knoxville, Tennessee police spokesman Darrell DeBusk confirmed that a man named Joseph MacDonald reported it stolen back in 1974.

Earlier this week MacDonald showed a local news station WBIR-TV the title for the vehicle, which he said was purchased a year before it was stolen while he was studying at the University of Tennessee.

"I knew exactly where I had parked it, right on Highland Avenue, and when we came back there was just an empty spot there. Just poof. It just vanished," MacDonald said to the news station.

After seeing photos released by border officials, MacDonald said he was positive the vehicle was his stolen Bug.

It now features a white paint job, were as it was red back in 1974.

"She's got a new paint job, the same top. I know that's the bumpers. That's original bumpers. And that top stayed down. It didn't matter how cold it was," he told WBIR-TV.

MacDonald will have to present the title to investigators in order to get the vehicle back, according to The Detroit Press.

"I had always hoped to be reunited with that thing," said MacDonald. "I've actually told my youngest daughter about that car and she said, 'Boy I wish you still had it,' and I said, 'I do too. I loved it.' And I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I might get it back." 

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