Today, Brad Howard (pictured above) says he will never sell his 1974 Ferrari Dino. It’s not just the excellent handling that makes him feel this way, it’s the fact that he bought the car after it was found in a garden and brought back to life. They mystery of how the Dino ended up buried was actually solved in 2012. It was purchased in October 1974 by a plumber named Rosendo Cruz from Alhambra, Calif., as a present to his wife. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to enjoy it very long. That's because the car, which only had 500 miles on it, was stolen while the couple was enjoying an anniversary dinner at a local restaurant. A police report was filed, and eventually the insurance company paid Cruz $22,500. In 1978, heavy rains uncovered the Dino, which had been buried at a house in central Los Angeles in what was believed to have once been a pool. The car had been wrapped in a tarp, with towels shoved up the exhaust to keep dirt, worms and water out. Only in 2012 did investigators discover that Rosendo Cruz had actually hired thieves to steal his precious Dino so he could claim the insurance money. The thieves were supposed to bury the car until Cruz got the insurance money, then dig it up, take it apart, and dump it where it would never be found. As it turns out, the thieves forgot where they buried the car. Despite their efforts, they neglected to roll the windows all the way up, so the car was a mess. All 21 layers of paint were eaten through by rust, erosion had wasted the wheels, the interior was ruined, and the engine had been crushed when the car was extracted from the ground. Howard bought the car less than a year after it was discovered and had it professionally restored. To this day, the Dino still has the original windows, trim and chrome, two of the original Campagnolo wheels, and proudly wears a license plate that reads “DUG UP.”
