Posted on 08/28/2013 6:49:06 PM PDT by Doogle
You can't help driving around Monterey during Pebble Beach car week as we did two weeks ago — the only time and place on earth where the sight of a couple Bugatti Veyrons on the road become commonplace — and not think at least once that an enterprising car thief could hit a jackpot. This year the thieves took note, swiping four classic Chevys in separate incidents, three of which had just been up for auction.
Of the four, the most valuable was the car above, a 1961 Chevy Impala Super Sport 409 convertible, billed by auction house Russo & Steele as the only all-original, numbers-matching example in existence. After the car failed to sell Friday night after bids reached $220,000, it was reported missing from the fenced and guarded lot along Fisherman's Wharf in downtown Monterey, Calif., where hundreds of other auction vehicles are kept.
Two other classic Chevys — another 1961 Impala convertible and a 1957 Chevy Bel Air coupe, both valued around $50,000 — were reported stolen from the Mecum auction house lot on a golf course later in the weekend. As with the Impala 409, both had failed to sell at auction and were supposedly taken back to secure lots. The other theft reported during the weekend of a well-preserved 1961 Corvette happened at a bed and breakfast.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...
Inside job.
Wouldn’t they be awfully hard to resell?
Easier in Stockholm or Buenos Aries
not really (parts)
ping
You must admire the audacity. “Wilma, get my screenwriter on the phone!” Love, Nick Cage
I remember back around 63, one of the hottest girls I have ever known drove a 61 Impala convertible tho I doubt it was a 409. Actually I know it wasn’t as every kid in school would have known if anyone had a 409.
We all had to give a speech on “how to” do something and hers was on how to raise and lower the top on a Chevy convertible.
Definitely.
Yup, I was thinking south of the border and Saudi Arabia. Big car nuts in Saudi and I don’t think their conscience would bother them if some kafir got ripped off.
Barrett-Jackson, take note.
i can understand how they got them started, but not out of the fence... inside job indeed
A guy I knew fairly well did have a 62 Ford 406 with 3 two barrels. I think it was 405 HP. One of my best friends had a 60 Ford with a 292 and auto trans. It actually ran pretty well.
My best friend had a 51 ford flat head V-8 I don’t recall the HP but that little V-8 would burn rubber.
Wouldn’t they be awfully hard to resell?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You get the insurance money. You don’t have to resell. Cars like this, you get a ‘claimed value’ policy. You tell the insurer what you think it’s worth, and that’s what they pay when it gets stolen. These policies are surprisingly cheap, at least they were a ten or so years ago.
Oh crap, I own two classics. I thought they’d be impossible to resell. I’ll have to wire them up, GPS them.
On a ship to a collector in Saudi Arabia right now.
They probably would have been worth $50,000 after you spent $100,000 doing complete body-off restorations.
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