[1]Classic car auctions are supposed to be safe havens of builders, collectors, and auctioneers, joining forces to make dreams come true and pocket some big money. So you would think at such a gathering, with cars valued at hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars, security would be pretty damn tight. And generally, it is.
But Hemmings Auto Blog [2] reports that three classic Chevys valued at more than $300,000 were stolen from Monterey classic car event last weekend. From the sounds of it, these professional thieves knew what they were doing, and the targeted cars will most likely be parted out and scrapped in very little time.
The most-expensive car was a red 1961 Chevy Impala 409 convertible with a four-speed transmission, valued by its owner at more than $200,000. It was stolen from a fenced-in and supposedly secure area at Russo and Steele’s auction event, after failing to meet its reserve price on the auction block.
Another 1961 Impala, this one a restomod with a Summit Racing 383 crate engine and a TH400 automatic transmission, was stolen after failing to meet its reserve at Mecum’s auction event. It was valued at more than $50,000, the high-bid on this particular car.
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The third car of the stolen trio was a pale yellow ‘57 Chevy Bel-Air that was in unrestored condition (save for a single factory-correct respray). This ‘57 was valued at around $65,000, and wasn’t discovered stolen until early Sunday morning. More like than not these cars will be parted out and sold to unsuspecting buyers out-of-state That is if they haven’t been packed up in shipping containers and sent to unscrupulous buyers in Europe or Asia.
Hopefully the police get some leads, but being how common all three cars are, even today, there’s a good chance these cars will remain forever stolen. Whoever pulled off this caper knew what they were doing.