That's what is left of a new Camaro, the $80,000 kind, after thieves pull it out of a dealership, strip it of everything, and leave the frame in the ghetto. https://twitter.com/fox12oregon/status/976267161412005888/photo/1
http://www.thedrive.com/news/19503/thieves-stripped-this-camaro-zl1-after-stealing-it-from-a-dealership
http://www.kptv.com/story/37746188/caught-on-camera-new-camaro-stolen-from-sandy-car-dealership-in-brazen-heist
Stealing from a dealership is not a new or original concept, it happens all the time, and has been happening for decades. Especially from Chevy dealerships
Back in 1969 5 ZL1s were stolen from ONE dealership.
What's crazy about that? One was found, the insurance company paid to have a 327 put in it, and when Super Chevy Magazine published the VINs of all 69 ZL1s in the 80s, a buddy said to his Camaro owning friends, hey, that looks like your VIN.
He was right. A ZL1 was in his friends garage, and with that 327 replacement the insurance company had installed so they could sell it and recoup some of the payout on the claim.
That Camaro is getting a feature in upcoming Muscle Car Review magazines as it gets restored
Another of the 5 stolen ZL1s was bought as a shell (all the goodies stripped out and installed in a race car no doubt) and sat in a collection for 23 years, until the VIN was checked, and found to be a ZL1 VIN, and then it was restored (with replacement parts) and sold at auction for $171,000
Why hadn't it been noticed that it was a ZL1 before that? The DMV made a mistake in the paperwork. They botched the typing, and goofed up the paperwork.
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2013/11/06/lost-zl-1-camaro-sells-for-171562-at-toronto-fall-classic-auction/
As a teenager, Don Martens could always be found at Diney’s Drive-In in Cleveland. “It was the place for hot cars.” Sometime in the summer of 1972, a certain Marlene and her pal, Jill, caught his eye. It wasn’t their looks that drew his gaze but rather their rides. “Both girls drove Camaros with Cragars.” While Jill cruised in her SS350, a looker in black paint with a red hockey stripe, Marlene drove a somewhat plain silver Camaro. “Rumors persisted it was a 427 car,” which turned out to be true—the Camaro was indeed one of the very rare ZL1s. Ordered by dealer Fred Gibb but returned and reassigned to Merollis Chevrolet in Detroit, the car was stolen and stripped before it was sold. Marlene was driving it with a Corvette 327 underhood. In August 1976, Martens bought it from Marlene and drove it for a year before putting it into long-term storage. Over the years he amassed a huge collection of N.O.S. parts and other related goodies for the car’s eventual restoration, which the Super Car Workshop began in May 2018. The final product will debut at this year’s MCACN show.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/flying-trans-yenko-cars-linda-vaughn-just-highlights-2019-carlisle-chevrolet-nationals/
I don't get it either, given the millions of dollars worth of inventory many dealerships have you'd think they'd have alarms or even a night watchman. This Camaro was dragged onto a flatbed truck in eight minutes, but they may as well have taken eight hours since it wasn't noticed till the next day.
ReplyDeleteI work at a dealership, one of the larger Jeep/Dodge dealerships in San Diego, we don't even have security cameras. There are no alarms on the cars, just GPS devices that (when you notice your car is stolen) can be used to see if the thiefs have already removed these devices, see if the car battery has been disconnected, see if the car is already over in Mexico (they just give up on those, zero effort is made to get them, or close down the chop shop the gps device shows to be hacking on the stolen car, or in an underground parking garage (no signal zone) .... ... basically, those GPS / Lo Jack devices aren't worth the money. That's why I've never heard of a discount for having one from any car insurance company I've had.
DeleteAnyway, dealerships install those loJack type GPS locators, and hope that if a car is stolen off the lot, they'll get the cops to recover it. That's not happening very often. We had a couple jeeps stolen, from the place I work at, and none were recovered. They went to a chop shop in Mexico, insurance paid for them, and I doubt the insurance companies are doing anything to shut down car thieves either
oh, they tried hiring security once, but they chose not to pay those guys well, and with little to no reason to be max effort, the guards were often found goofing off, sleeping, etc.
DeleteWhy give a damn? They can get another security guard job in an instant. No one checks with past employers. So, instead of hiring ex military who are all about guard duty integrity, they gave up on using their brains and having any security at all, not even recording security cams digitally, due to the cost.
Do you think it's because they're as good with an insurance payout as they are with an actual sale?
DeleteWorked for a Chevy dealer in the eighties. We had a woodstove on each end of the shop to help with heating costs back when we had real winters in the northeast. We came in one Monday morning to find the 3 Irocs that were delivered Friday sitting on firewood with all the wheels missing.
ReplyDeletedamn. There sure are a lot of dealerships that get wheels stolen!
Delete