Watch: Auto worker's lost wallet found under hood 11 years later
Richard Guilford, who is now retired, said he remembers the day he lost his wallet while working on vehicles that had been shipped to the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne after coming off the assembly line in Chicago with electrical issues.
"I never wore sweatpants to work, but I did that day," he told KARE-TV. "And I had my wallet in my shirt pocket."
Guilford and his team searched for the missing wallet, but there were 2,000 vehicles on the floor and they eventually had to give up. He said the wallet contained his driver's license, his Ford Motor Co. ID, $15 in cash and $250 worth of Cabela's sporting goods gift cards he had intended to use to buy Christmas presents for his kids.
The wallet's final fate remained a mystery for 11 years, until Chad Volk, owner of LC Car Care in Crystal Lake, Minn., was working on a 2015 Ford Edge brought in to have its cooling fans replaced.
Volk said he was attempting to put the air box back into place under the hood, but it wouldn't fit right. He removed it again and found Guilford's leather wallet sitting on top of the transmission.
"I was surprised. You find stuff all the time, usually tools," Volk told the Detroit Free Press. "I looked through it and I see a Ford Motor Co. badge. I thought, 'I'm going to try finding this guy to see if I can get it back to him.'"
Volk was quickly able to find and contact Guilford on Facebook, and the wallet was in the mail the next day.
Volk said the Edge had about 150,000 miles on it when it came to his shop.
"It's well-traveled currency," Guilford joked of the $15 cash, which was still safe inside the wallet, along with the rest of its contents.
Guilford said Cabela's has agreed to issue him new gift cards, so he can keep his preserved wallet intact as a keepsake.
"Some things in it were hot and crisp, think of how hot that car got," Guilford said. "It doesn't look like it ever got wet, just hot. That little corner kept [the wallet] completely dry and completely preserved. I want the wallet to stay as it is. It is a memento."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Ford's $30K Electric Pickup Could Crush Jeff Bezos-Backed Rival
With a targeted price tag of just $30,000, the new battery-electric pickup Ford Motor Co. announced this week promises good news for buyers looking for an all-electric truck that won't break the bank. Costing barely half as much as the typical EV sold in the U.S. this year, Ford is betting it will position the automaker as one of the leaders in the EV market. That could be bad news for another brand focused solely on the affordable EV segment, the Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto, which in April revealed its own electric pickup it currently expects to start delivering next year at a starting price of $27,000. While Slate would appear to have an advantage when it comes to cost, Ford's "Universal EV" has lots going for it, with Sam Abuelsamid, chief analyst at Telemetry Research, declaring "Slate is cooked." After surging eightfold between 2019 and 2023, EV sales have since lost much of their momentum, market share sliding to just 8.6% at the end of the first half of 2025, according to Cox Automotive data. Part of the problem is that early adopters have largely already gotten the vehicles they want. Further growth depends upon targeting more mainstream buyers. That isn't easy, however, when the average transaction price for an EV was $55,689 in July, according to Kelley Blue Book. For all new vehicles sold in the U.S. last month, the average, or ATP, was $48,401. Complicating matters: the $7,500 federal tax credit many EV customers depended on will go away at the end of the September due to the federal budget bill enacted last month. To kickstart the market, analysts widely agree, means bringing out more new EVs priced in the low $30,000 range, and even below that figure. Ford says it's on track to get there thanks to the secret "skunkworks" program it set up in Long Beach, California three years ago. A small product development team came up with what they're calling the "Universal EV." Echoing what happened when founder Henry Ford switched on his first moving assembly line in 1913, Ford is setting up a completely new manufacturing process at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky. The ultimate goal is to produce an extended family of low-price battery-electric vehicles. In 2027 that will begin with a 4-door pickup with a "targeted price," said Ford, of $30,000. Details have yet to be released but Kumar Galhotra, Ford's Chief Operating Officer, made it clear the truck won't be just an econobox. "We do not believe that you need to strip out features, functionality, screens or even seats to make a vehicle affordable. We will achieve affordability by radically simplifying parts and process." Ford is by no means the only automaker feverishly working to shave EV prices. General Motors is readying an all-new version of the Chevrolet Bolt, its first long-range all-electric model set to debut this year. Kia has the EV4 coming, Nissan is finishing work on the next-generation Leaf and Tesla keeps promising its own entry model Then there's Slate Auto, based in the Detroit suburb of Troy. "We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never delivered," CEO Chris Barman said in April as she pulled the cover off an all-electric 2-door pickup. As with its more established rival, the Slate team poured over every aspect of automotive design, engineering and manufacturing. The truck's body will be made of unpainted gray polypropylene, rather than the normal steel or aluminum, for one thing. Unlike Ford's electric truck, meanwhile, the Slate model will be the ultimate example of stripping things down to their bare essentials. There'll be no radio, for example, and you'll have to supply the smartphone or tablet if you want an infotainment system. Even the windows will be hand-cranked. "I like simplifying things and making a lot of things optional for customers," said analyst Abuelsamid, "But they've gone too far." But one also has to take the promises made by both companies with a healthy dose of skepticism, cautioned Brinley. "How many times have we seen automakers set a price target but then end up coming in at $2,000, $3,000, even $5,000 more." And it remains to be seen, she added, whether either company will meet its planned production date. That's a common problem across the auto industry and Tesla has shown that this is particularly problematic for start-ups. Ford, for its part, is confident it can deliver, and then gain a real leg up on its competitors in the bid to drive down EV prices. The number two U.S. manufacturer is particularly hopeful the Universal EV project will allow it to challenge the domestic Chinese automakers gaining so much traction around the world. Slate isn't ready to concede defeat. Far from it, the start-up automaker claiming to have so far recorded over 100,000 advance reservations for its truck. But there seems little doubt Ford has now changed the rules of the game in the emerging market for truly affordable EVs. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Ford Motor Co. has a much bigger issue than tariffs at its door
Earlier this year, Ford earned an ignominious distinction after it issued its 89th recall of the year before July. The Blue Oval shattered the record General Motors set in 2014 when it issued 77 recalls in the whole year. Last month during its second-quarter earnings call, Ford said that it is taking the issue seriously. "We are not satisfied with the current level of recalls or the number of vehicles impacted. We are working to reduce the cost of these recalls," said Chief Operating Officer Kuman Galhorta. Related: Ford Motor Co. is still haunted by this one, costly issue But the company also downplayed the issue in some ways. Ford says that about a third of its recalls over the past three years have been software-related, and over-the-air recalls cost 95% less than physical ones. So even though Ford is breaking recall records this year, the issues are less costly to fix. Galhorta also said that the majority of its recalls are "tied to vehicles engineered several years ago before we made all the robust process changes across our industrial system." But the latest Ford recall shows that the problem may not be explained away so easily. On August 11, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association announced that Ford is issuing a recall for certain 2023-2025 F-150 vehicles equipped with the Trailer Tow Max Duty package and a 9.75-inch heavy duty axle with a 3/4 float axle design. The agency says the rear axle hub bolt may fatigue and eventually break, which could cause the vehicle to roll away, even when when in park, if the parking brake isn't also engaged. Ford does have a fix for this issue, and owners will be notified of the change via mail in phases beginning August 18, 2025, through May 22, 2026. Related: Ford CEO Jim Farley takes 'radical approach' to big money loser Ford's number for this recall is 25S82, and it expands previous NHTSA recall number 23V896. The Ford F-150 is the country's most popular pickup, but the NHTSA estimates that just about 1% of the vehicles have the defect. Ford says that tariff costs will shave about $2 billion off its bottom line this year, but if Ford doesn't get its recall issues under control, its tariff expenses could pale in comparison. Ford just announced that is recalling 2021-2024 Bronco Sport vehicles, 2020-2022 Escape vehicles, and 2019-2024 Kuga vehicles due to cracked fuel injectors that could leak fuel into the engine and increase the risk of fire. More than 694,000 vehicles could have the problem, so it's calling for a field service action that will cost Ford about $570 million. This was reflected in its second-quarter results but won't affect the company's full year EBIT. More automotive: Toyota is stuck in neutral after the latest US and Japan trade updateGeneral Motors has an unlikely ally in race against China$243 million Tesla Autopilot lawsuit lawyer has message for Elon Musk As bad as the recent spate of recalls has been, Ford says field service actions (FSA) costs for 2024 and 2025 model-year vehicles are at least 50% better than those for 2020 and 2022 model-year vehicles. FSAs account for about 40% of Ford's warranty costs. The other 60% covers bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranty coverage. Last week, the NHTSA announced that Ford is recalling 312,120 vehicles in the U.S due to a brake assist issue that could cause the loss of that function. Vehicles affected by Ford brake assist recall: 2025 Ford Bronco2025 Ford Expedition2025 Ford F-1502025 Ford Ranger2025 Lincoln Navigator Ford will start mailing letters for that recall to owners starting August 25. Owners can contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Related: Ford CEO Jim Farley supports US tariffs despite $2 billion cost The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Motor 1
4 hours ago
- Motor 1
The Latest Mustang GTD Ditches Paint for Pure Carbon
The Ford Mustang GTD is the most radical version of the model we have ever seen, and the Blue Oval has somehow taken it even further. The automaker has unveiled the GTD Liquid Carbon that passes on a coat of paint for a completely exposed carbon-fiber body. The car is about 13 pounds lighter than the GTD Carbon Series with the Performance pack. Not only did Ford save a few pounds with the paint, it also replaced the sheet metal in the doors with bonded carbon-fiber, and in the performance world, every pound counts. One of the car's most striking features is the impeccable weave in the carbon fiber. It takes the artistry of the Carbon Series and ramps it up, featuring a cohesive pattern across the entire vehicle, matching down the midline through the hood, roof, wing, and rear duck. The Liquid Carbon comes standard with the GTD's Performance package , which includes 20-inch magnesium wheels that conceal the Black Brembo brakes with anodized GTD script. The pack also includes additional aero bits while removing some sound deadening. The Liquid Carbon features Ford's supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine, producing 815 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, and the semi-active rear inboard pushrod suspension. 15 Source: Ford Inside, the Mustang features black leather and Dinamica microfiber suede. Hyper Lime stitching on the seats, door panels, steering wheel, and elsewhere throughout the cabin adds contrast. Ford says it will deliver the first Liquid Carbon Mustang GTD this October, joining the GTD Spirit of America as a variant. We imagine it'll cost quite a bit more than the model's $327,000 starting price . Is it worth it? More From Ford: Ford Isn't Giving Up on Regular Cars: 'You'll Be Pleasantly Surprised' Ford's $30,000 Truck Isn't a Slate Competitor. It's Something Different Stay informed with our newsletter every weekday back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Source: Ford Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
