Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Convertibles, Ford
$450K show car gets Grand Theft Auto treatment: $5K reward for return
It’s one
thing when thieves outside a 7-11 nab your winter beater. It’s another whole thing when low lifes hijack your
$450,000 vintage 1937 Ford convertible show car along with the 1999 Ford F350 and trailer in which it was being
transported. This one-of-a-kind vehicle nicknamed “Chocolate Thunder” and built by Rad Rides By Troy for a private owner and was being transported to an auto
show in Quebec City earlier this month when it, the truck and trailer were stolen from a hotel parking lot. The shop has put up a $5,000 reward for anyone able to provide info that leads to the return of the vehicle. Everyone is hoping the vehicle is returned in one piece, though Brian Ferguson of Rad Rides fears the car attracts so much attention that the criminals may destroy it to avoid detection.
[Source: Inside Line; Oilstick]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Noah 5:21PM (4/20/2006)
Well atleast Rad Rides By Troy is going to get PR over this, that should help cover their $5000 reward and if they don't get it back atleast cover the deductable. From a realistic outside perspective, if they have inssurance, let's hope they do, their going to get to build something else great and get lots of PR.
--Noah
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Zippy Galoo 5:29PM (4/20/2006)
Hmmm. I'd ask Brian Ferguson a few questions about this one.
1. Is a 1937 Ford Convertible really worth $450,000? Or is the insurance policy for $450,000?
2. $5,000 reward? Seems like a small sum for such an expensive car. Or seems like too small of a sum to go looking for it.
3. Strange comment from Brian Ferguson..."fears the car attracts so much attention that the criminals may destroy it to avoid detection." Do criminals really steal a $450,000 cars just to destroy them?
Something fishy going on here. What do you think detective? Did the criminal know where the vehicle was going to be parked in advance?
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samuel 6:16PM (4/20/2006)
Hey Zippy. Your conspiracy theory is idiotic. The article clearly states that car was locked in a trailer behind the F350. The thieves probably had no idea what was inside there.
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ChorizoZero 7:20PM (4/20/2006)
Seems like a pretty pricey item to leave in a hotel parking lot (motel 6?) without a lojack or something. Maybe not a conspiracy (not an *idiotic* idea, certainly plausible) but they were sure asking for it.
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CptMystic 8:09PM (4/20/2006)
Silly samuel...
If it WAS a conspiracy, of COURSE the thieves knew what
was inside there! In fact, your argument supports the
theory more than it refutes it!
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Howard Kerr 9:15PM (4/20/2006)
Wow, do I feel...foolish? When I travel between Memphis and my parents home for Christmas, I remove ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I think a thief might be attracted to, even stuff in my locked trunk, when I am stopped at night at a motel. Granted, these folks probably thought they could trust (what better be a REALLY great) "car alarm"... but a half million dollars in car, truck and trailer? Why not just put a sign on all this asking thieves to ignore it? And a 5 grand reward? What a joke?
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weatherman 7:41AM (4/21/2006)
I imagine the theives really didn't know what they were stealing - or perhaps even what they were doing. If there's a danger of it being "destroyed" it comes from the possibility that the thieves had brought the trailer immediately to a warehouse/chopshop to figure out what they had. After realizing that they had something they really couldn't sell (at least domestically) or something that they could really part out for much value, they might decide to just chop it up to destroy the evidence. Sure, they could just bring the car (in the trailer) and drop it off somewhere remote, but keep in mind that hauling around a trailer isn't exactly discreet. In my mind, it's not just plausible that they would destroy it, it's probable.
That said, $450,000 is ridiculous. A quick check (by no means extensive research) suggests that Trip's cars regularly bring about $150,000 at auction, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
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C-Note 9:39AM (4/21/2006)
THE THIEVES PROBABLY FIGURED THEY SHOULD STEEL VEHICHLES WITH TRAILERS ON THEM, EVEN IF THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS IN THE TRAILER THEY STILL WOULD HAVE DOUBLED UP IN DOLLAR VALUE ON THE STOLEN PROPERTY!
A MUCH BETTER CHOICE THAN THE DODGE CARAVAN THAT WAS PARKED NEXT TO IT! RIGHT!
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petel 10:41AM (4/21/2006)
Saw this in Autoweek yesterday on the BWTM page I believe.
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Random 1:38PM (4/21/2006)
Sounds pretty dubious to me too. Whether its 150K or 450K, I would have put a lot more security into it. There are a lot of simple ways to protect an asset like that. I've only got a 3 year-old Audi, but I put one of these in it for protection - www.thewitness.net. It calls me if the alarm goes off or if car is moved when it's not supposed to.
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Fabulo 2:25PM (4/21/2006)
mmm... insurance scam anyone? empty trailer, F350, conveniently located in the dark side of the no name motel in the middle of nowhere...
In other news, it'd be fun to be a thief specializing in trailered veicles. You don't know what's in, so it's like a surprise theft. On time you get a family moving from Bismark to Charlotte's worldly posession, complete with houseplant and vintage Nintendo, another time, a horse. Yet another time, and empty trailer supposed to hold a 1/2 million dollar car...
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matt 10:16PM (5/02/2006)
all you people are a bunch of fucking idiots the cars worth the money if you have actually seen it in person. also know the work they put into there cars and how they come out when there finished.
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