More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
When vintage car fanatic Ross Hutchinson put out an appeal to track down his beloved '58 Chrysler, he never dreamt of the response he would get.
He has received several possible sightings of the classic vehicle from near to his home in Chatham to South Wales.
And he plans to follow up at least a dozen of the leads in his mission to find the owner, who has kept the striking American vehicle taxed and on the road in the UK.
The 42-year-old special needs teacher, who lives in Hempstead, sold the car to buy a replica of the Cadillac hearse which featured in the original Ghostbusters.
Ross and his late brother Ryde spent much of their youth restoring old cars and this was to be their next project.
Every penny of the £1,500 he got for the Chrysler, along with a hefty loan, went towards getting the Caddy shipped over from America.
Ross was convinced the car they did up on the cheap with duct tape and filler would have been destined to the scrapyard years ago.
It was after sifting through some old pictures of himself and his brother with the car outside their parents' home in Twydall that curiosity got the better of him.
He ran a check on the number plate with the DVLA website and, to his amazement, discovered it was still out there and roadworthy.
He believes he sold it to a man called Jim who was in his 40s and into the rockabilly scene.
Dad-of-two Ross wants to find the current owner to say thanks for keeping it up-and- running and to apologise for the makeshift repairs.
He said :"I am amazed at the feedback. It's interesting that I have two separate leads from Ramsgate and Wales. And also Chatham , which makes sense if it is still local.
"I'm going to find the time to follow up these leads and hopefully it will come to something. It's going to be a bit like Crimewatch.
"I know it sounds like sentimentality, but it would mean so much to be reunited with the car and the owner."
Meanwhile, Ross has revived the restoration of the Ghostbuster Caddy which has sat under tarpaulin in Goudhurst Road, Twydall , for 10 years.
He is determined to complete the project in memory of Ryde, who died in a car crash in 2002, when he was 18.
He's also spurred on by his five-year-old son who is a big fan of the smash hit movie.
