Hurricane Mopars, Stolen Split Windows, And A Morbid Ending To A Car Chase
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This week on the Motorious Podcast…
We’ve all seen the pictures of the Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona damaged by Hurricane Ian, and we find out the full story. A rare 1963 Chevy Split Window Corvette is stolen during a car show, and a GT500 thief is killed in a morbid way. Another disappointment from Dodge, and a 15-year-old crashes his family’s Challenger. Then, we share our inventory picks from the week.
Headlines:
Hurricane Ian Takes Out Two Mopar Wing Cars
A rare Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona were torn out of a garage in Bonita Springs, Florida as Hurricane Ian ravaged the area. Quickly, photos of the Mopar wing cars spread on social media as enthusiasts were outraged they were left to such a fate. In any natural disaster the primary concern is for human life. That said, we’re always saddened to see rare cars damaged, especially irreparably, by the elements.
Immediately, people wondered what kind of irresponsible monster wouldn’t have loaded the Superbird and Daytona Charger on a trailer and got out of dodge at the first sign of trouble. It’s a legitimate question, but a commenter on Facebook by the name of Neil Walton claimed to have the answer.
Supposedly, Walton is the nephew of the Mopar owner. He claims the man had four in his garage. Two were left on hoists with the hope they would stay out of the floodwaters while the other two which were at ground level were trailered away. A local story from Tampa Bay Times says the owner of the vehicles is Mike Walton, so the last names match up at least. The story also confirmed there were four classic Mopars in the garage, two on lifts, so it appears the Facebook comment was indeed legitimate.
In hindsight Walton’s plan was flawed, although we can hardly blame the man. Obviously, the water did reach the other two Mopar wing cars, blowing out the garage doors and pulling the precious rides outside, damaging them. But with little time to spare, Walton had to make a split-second decision, not knowing how bad things would get.
Read the full story here.
1963 Corvette Split Window Stolen During Michigan Car Show
Car thieves are becoming increasingly more brazen by the day. If you need proof of that, take a look at the Split Window 1963 Chevy Corvette that was lifted while a car show was taking place. According to sources, the Corvette was taken Saturday, October 1st during The Armor Great Pumpkin Classic Car Show held in Howell, Michigan.
Scout Sparks, the owner’s daughter, took to Facebook to spread the word about the theft of her dad’s gorgeous 1963 Chevy Corvette. The comments on the post reflect the feeling of disbelief that someone would be so bold to take the car during the show. It was parked in the spectator parking lot at the Livingston County Airport, and taken in a 30 minute time window of 12:30-1:00 pm…in broad daylight.
Sources point out that the car is painted a Sebring Silver and appears to have black interior. A partial view of the plate reads “New Jersey YX 102” with a number just out of view enough to not make out clearly. It’s not confirmed if this plate is current, as the photo shows the daughter a little younger than her current profile picture. Either way, most crooks know to pop the plate off first thing.
Read the full story here.
Shelby GT500 Thief Runs Out Of Gas, Dies
We’ve seen a lot of weird car theft stories, but this one out of San Mateo, California is one of the more bizarre. It started with a man being chased by police and ended with him running out of gas and dying. And it involves a Shelby GT500, because it just does.
Back on September 21 at about 4:15 in the morning, police were hot on the trail of one Eric Jaeger, a 31-year-old man whom police say had stolen a white Shelby GT500. Officers had their hands full trying to keep up with the pony car, so the suspect got so far ahead of them that they eventually completely lost sight of the white car.
While crossing the San Mateo Bridge, Jaeger’s luck ran out and so did the gas in the Shelby. Surely he saw the gas light before, but the man kept pushing the GT500 hard to shake the fuzz and as a result he literally drained the tank so the car just stopped dead.
By the time authorities caught up with him, Jaeger was also dead. They believe after he ran out of gas, the man got out of the car and was hit by oncoming traffic. What a way to go.
Read the full story here.
Final Limited-Edition Dodge Delayed Thanks To Supply Chain Problems
The final “Last Call” Dodge Challenger, the one which is supposed to be the crown jewel of the lineup, has been pushed back thanks to supply chain problems. If any car news story typifies 2022, it’s this. With component shortages, namely for computer chips, automotive manufacturing has been trimmed way back since at least early 2021. Because of that, yet another delay just isn’t all that shocking.
Dodge and parent company Stellantis aren’t saying exactly what part shortages have pushed back the reveal of the final special edition Challenger. We just know originally the unveiling was going to take place at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, which goes from November 1-4. Now there’s no set reveal date, so nobody knows how long we’ll have to wait, including Dodge.
Honestly, up to this point the “Last Call” Dodge Challengers and Chargers have been hugely disappointing. For the most part, they’ve been unimaginative with some light cosmetic changes and callbacks to Mopar nostalgia. In other words, they’ve been just a way for Dodge to cash in on its heritage in the most cynical way possible.
The least Dodge could’ve done was really shoot for the moon on performance. At best, these special edition cars are Jailbreaks, so they’re not any more special than regular production cars. Still, those who have been trained to just consume next product or hope to grab one and cash in on those who’ve been trained to just consume next product have been applauding them wildly. Sadly, this delay likely won’t sober them up.
Read the full story here.
15-Year-Old Boy Crashes Family Dodge Challenger
Taking your mom’s Camry for a joyride without permission is definitely a bad idea, but it’s an even worse idea to take the family muscle car out for a spin. Even worse is when you take your parents’ vehicle for a ride and don’t have a license, then you crash it. According to a report out of Fresno, California, that’s exactly what a 15-year-old boy did recently.
Fresno Police told local media that on the evening of September 28, the teenage boy took the family Dodge Challenger out for a drive before losing control of the Mopar muscle car and slamming it nose-first into a tree. The photo of the wreck is gut-wrenching to say the least and we’re sure the kid is in a world of hurt now.
Reportedly, the teen was driving in southeast Fresno at about 5:30 pm when the Challenger “left the roadway… drove up a sidewalk and crashed into the tree.” If we had to guess, and we’re just guessing since we can’t see tire marks and such at the scene of the accident, it’s likely the kid didn’t know how to handle the Dodge’s power and he torque steered right off the road, panicked, didn’t know how to get the muscle car back onto the road, and hit the tree at speed.
Luckily, like the teen wasn’t seriously hurt in the crash. Police found him walking about two blocks from the accident. However, that doesn’t mean he’s alright. After all, his parents probably have some pretty stiff punishment in store. Something tells us he won’t be getting his driver’s license or his own vehicle anytime soon.
Read the full story here.
Inventory Picks
1976 GMC Mystery Machine
See it here.
1967 Porsche 911 LWB Widebody
See it here.
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