From the biggest organized crime scams to the dumbest small-time mistakes, car theft doesn't get much more out-there than this.
10.) Trying To Steal A Car Full Of Cops
"He's not one of your smarter ones," is how the US Marshals described a Louisiana man back in 2012 after he tried to steal a car containing a State Police detective and two members of the U. S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force. The full story is right here.
Suggested By: You're killing me smalls, Photo Credit: Louisiana State Police
9.) The Genovese Crime Family Chop Shop Network
This was the ring of car theft in New York City for years. They ran the organized car theft game, funneling stolen cars into numerous chop shops, notably for selling off airbags. Here's how the family went down.
Suggested By: mr_gofast, Photo Credit: Chop Shop
8.) Making James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 Disappear
One of the famous Aston Martin DB5s used for effects in the James Bond movies remains lost after it disappeared in 1997, as Jalopnik reported a few years back.
In 1997, the Effects Car was stolen from an airport hangar in Florida where it was stored. No one has seen the car since it was stolen and after an exhaustive search it is now generally accepted that the Effects Car may be lost forever. The Insurance Company's payout for the car in the late 90s was rumored to be around four million dollars.
Suggested By: monsterajr, Photo Credit: Chilterngreen
7.) Stealing A DeLorean And Selling It In The Same Town
It's not a good idea to steal a DeLorean, one of the most recognizable cars in the world. It's an even worse idea to steal a painted DeLorean, which makes the car even easier to identify. And it's a catastrophically bad idea to sell the car on Craigslist in the same town you pinched it in.
Suggested By: McMike, Photo Credit: Craigslist/Jalopnik
6.) Stealing Jason Torchinsky's Beetle
Speaking of the Internet recovering cars, it was a bad plan to make off with a car owned by a writer on one of the Internet's most-viewed automotive sites. We got the car back.
Suggested By: dogisbadob, Photo Credit: Jason Torchinsky/Jalopnik
5.) Snatching Cars At Sex Parties
Nobody does car theft like the Bulgarians, as commenter alexmanchev explains.
Here is the summary: 1. BG car thieves known as the world's best ( you can see them steal an X5 1:35 - it takes them only 10 secs! 2. The police chief proceeds to outline some their tactics: organizing a sex parties in Spain and France and stealing guest's vehicles; fitting a luxury car with a GPS tracker, making a copy of the key, selling it to drug traffickers and when the car is "loaded" proceed to nick the car and the "goods". 3. The police chief reveals that there is a strong chance that David Beckam's 2 armor plated BMW-s have been nicked by Bulgarians ( one of which had turned up in Macedonia).
Suggested By: alexmanchev
4.) The Algar Ferrari Heist
What makes this case extra strange is how the FBI ended up wrecking the car themselves. Oof.
Suggested By: NorthCentralPositrnics, Photo Credit:
3.) The Mission Impossible Theft Of Guy Fieri's Lambo
First off, this thief did humanity a favor by stealing Guy Fieri's Gallardo, and second he did it rappelling down to the car Mission Impossible-style. The dude was a bad guy, but he pulled off quite a crime.
Suggested By: maxyenko and atrombs
2.) Making A Run For It In A Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
How do you even expect to sell a chrome Bugatti? It's not exactly hard to identify.
In any case, these guys in Switzerland ended up crashing the thing during a police chase on the Autobahn, so we'll never know how their efforts to sell it would've gone.
Suggested By: 71MGBGT, Photo Credit: Kriminalpolizeiinspektion Bayreuth
1.) Videotaping Yourself In A Stolen Mclaren SLR
You have to be really inspired to not only make off with a half-million-dollar McLaren-Mercedes SLR (back when these things were brand new in the market), but to record yourself on your phone trying to speed test the car Top Gear-style. The above episode of the UK's "Cars, Cops & Criminals" shows how these guys got nabbed. Suggested By: cesariojpn
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: The Simpsons
The Ten Most Audacious Car Thefts In History