That 1911 is a bonafide piece of history. I'd keep it as well. Value will only go up anyway. Even if guns become illegal, it will have museum piece value forever.

Very nice find, indeed.

As for the condition of the gun. If you think about it. If it was made in 1944 and came home with the GI in either 1944 or 1945 instead of being recycled back into service, then that might explain it's condition. It may have been rarely used, if ever, which makes it even more valuable.

It's amazing the amount of equipment that was destroyed and lost at the end of the war. By the time the war ended, we were at peak production and production didn't stop until the war did in late 1945. They just had so many weapons and equipment and nobody wanted it, not even for scrap, that everything from airplanes to ships to guns was either blown up, buried, tossed overboard, or found their way home in a rucksack.

Considering where that gun was found, in the back of an old car, I would be surprised if it wasn't actually stolen, but the thing is, if the owner never recorded the serial number....and they probably didn't, they'd have no way of reporting it stolen. But there's nothing you can do about that and the original owner is likely long gone by now anyway.