Former Formula 1 driver, Gerhard Berger, was away at the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix when his rare Ferrari F512M was stolen in London.
It is thought the supercar was shipped to Japan almost instantly where it appears to have remained, until a US car collector bought it, or so he thought.
The buyer requested checks be carried out on the car to ensure everything was above board and, during those checks, Ferrari alerted the Met Police that it believed this was a previously stolen vehicle.
The force’s organised vehicle crime unit and the National Crime Agency began a ‘painstaking’ operation in collaboration with Ferrari and international car dealerships to piece the puzzle together.
No arrests have yet been made and a second Ferrari that was stolen at the same time remains missing.
PC Mike Pilbeam said: "The stolen Ferrari - close to the value of £350,000 - was missing for more than 28 years before we managed to track it down in just four days."
Quite what the force was doing for those 28 years remains to be seen.