Man determined to replace his stolen vehicle ends up buying back the exact same car
- A UK man had his black Honda Civic Type-R stolen
- Within three weeks, he’d replaced it
- However, there was a reason the new car seemed familiar
Published on Apr 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Apr 28, 2025 at 12:35 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
When a 36-year-old man from Solihull, UK, had his black Honda Civic Type-R stolen from his driveway earlier this year, he tried to replace it, but got a surprise when his new car arrived and it was a clone.
After reporting the theft to the police and his insurance company, he was determined to replace it with the same make and model.
He was thrilled when he happened upon an identical 2016 Honda Civic Type-R for just under $27,000 at a reputable garage 70 miles away.
However, when he took a closer look he could barely believe his eyes.
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Stolen Honda Civic Type-R
Based in the West Midlands in the UK, senior software engineer Ewan Valentine’s car disappeared from his driveway on 28 February, and he shared the unbelievable chain of events on his Instagram page.
After owning the Honda for three years, like many Type R owners, he had begun modifying the car, for example, adding a Remus exhaust.
He found and bought his like-for-like replacement just three weeks later.
After purchasing it, he noticed odd familiar items inside the trunk: a tent peg, Christmas tree pines, and Mars bar wrappers.
The car had a new number plate and lower mileage, but something still felt off.
The penny finally dropped when he found his and his parents’ addresses saved in the sat-nav history.
Convincing clone job
The realization was that his replacement was even closer to the original than he’d bargained for.
In fact he had accidentally bought his own stolen car.
He brought it to a local Honda dealership, where technicians were able to confirm that it was, indeed, his original vehicle.
The thieves had tampered with the car’s VIN numbers and made various other changes to disguise the car.
Valentine believes the app and dealership that sold him the car it was unaware it was stolen.
Police and mechanics said it was one of the most convincing clone jobs they had ever seen.
With the headscratching situation leaving his insurance company confused about how to move forward, for now, he’s driving his his partner’s 2007 Civic Type S, which he told Road & Track was ‘a lot less fun to drive’.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
