I still don’t really get how no one noticed this happening, but stranger things have occurred. — Dan

In early 1978, a couple of boys were hanging out in their yard in Los Angeles, digging in the dirt. Their family had just moved into the home -- a rental -- a few months earlier, and the kids were exploring as kids do. They likely came across some rocks and worms, and probably created a small hole that their parents would barely care about, if at all. But by the time they were done, their parents most definitely noticed: the entire yard had to be excavated. It wasn’t the kids’ fault, though. As they dug, they hit something oddly metallic and definitely not something that should have been buried in their yard: a 1974 Dino 246 GTS, an expensive sports car made by Ferrari, as seen below (via the Los Angeles Times).

The kids flagged down a police officer once they realized that there was something buried in their yard that clearly shouldn’t have been there, and — fearing that there could be a body buried within the vehicle — the police dug the car up. They didn’t find a body, thankfully, but they did uncover a mystery. The car was wrapped in plastic, albeit imperfectly. Towels were stuffed in the exhaust pipe, as if to keep soil-dwelling bugs from getting in. There was even a carpet placed along part of the top of the car, to protect it from, well, who knows what. It looked like whoever buried the car had tried to preserve it, in hopes of recovering it later. But who, and why? And how do you bury a fancy sports car in the middle of Los Angeles without anyone noticing? 

The investigation began with the original purchaser of the car, a plumber named Rosendo Cruz. In 1974, he bought the Dino for his wife as a birthday present, but she didn’t get to use the car for long. As Times reported, on December 7 of that year, they went out for dinner and, as Rosendo told the police, he didn’t trust the valet at the restaurant they went to, so he parked the car on the street. His instincts were apparently justified when they exited the restaurant — the car was gone. Someone, and Cruz believed it was the valet, had stolen the car. The police investigation, to the extent there was one, turned up little to nothing, though. Cruz’s insurance company, Farmers, reimbursed him for the original purchase price of the car, in the amount of $22,500 (or about $150,000 in today’s dollars). The story should have ended there, as no one expected the car to resurface (literally!) three years later. 

But when the car came to light, the mystery of how it got there became national news. For decades, the reason behind the burial was unsolved, but in 2012, auto site Jalopnik revealed some unreported information. A confidential source had told the police that Cruz was, allegedly, the man behind the caper, not the victim of a crime. He had conspired with unnamed others to steal the car so that he could commit insurance fraud, recouping the money that he had spent on the gift for his wife. (It’s the thought that counts, I guess!) The thieves were supposed to cut up the car for parts, and then selling those parts to make a profit on the ordeal, but for reasons unclear, they decided to hide the car by burying it in what they thought was a vacant lot. And then, apparently, they forgot where they buried it. (Neither Cruz nor any alleged coconspirators were ever charged with a crime.)

As for the car itself, Farmers took ownership of it once they cut Cruz the check, and when it was discovered, they had an asset on their hands. Ferrari stopped making the Dino 246 in 1974, but plenty of car aficionados were fans of the vehicle. The novelty of obtaining one that had been buried for years was enough to pique the interest of many, and some misinformation in the media amplified that interest. As the Associated Press noted at the time, “Except for a small hole above the right taillight, the Ferrari appeared in good condition.” The buried Dino was a good-looking, famous car, and apparently well-preserved. 

Of course, Farmers had no interest in holding onto a beat up Ferrari. They were a lot more interested in recouping some of that $22,500, so they decided to auction off the buried treasure. Despite the AP report, their inspector found that the car was undrivable and probably not even restorable — apparently, whomever buried the car didn’t do a very good job, even forgetting to roll up the windows. Farmers disclosed this and put up the car for auction anyway, hoping that the car’s place in the annals of weirdness would fetch them at least some reimbursement. Ultimately, it fetched a few thousand dollars — a real estate developer named Brad Howard purchased it and hired a Ferrari expert to restore it. As of 2021, per AutoEvolution, Howard still owns and uses the Dino. It’s license plate? “DUG UP.”

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Today’s Bonus fact: The 1990 movie Pretty Woman was a box office smash, earning more than $450 million on a $14 million budget. The male lead, Edward Lewis (no relation, especially as he’s fictional character), portrayed by Richard Gere, is a corporate raider who drives a flashy car — but it’s not a Ferrari, it’s a Lotus Esprit. That wasn’t what the producers originally wanted, though. According to Collider, “the filmmakers planned for Edward to cruise around Los Angeles in a Porsche or a Ferrari, but they ran into some unexpected trouble. Both Porsche and Ferrari declined to have their cars featured in Pretty Woman, because they didn’t want them to be associated with prostitution.” Lotus didn’t mind the free publicity — per Collider, sales of their car tripled after the movie came out.

From the Archives: Quickly Going Nowhere: Why is this Ferrari covered in dust?

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And thanks! — Dan