Staff photo by Steve Aldridge

But not Robert Morris' ride.

Morris had a 1966 Chevy II Nova, a rare and classic black beast with gleaming chrome wheels, polished aluminum under the hood and a nitrous oxide bottle - a device that makes the fuel burn faster, dramatically increasing the car's power - in the trunk.

Keith McLaurin of Eastover spent three years and $35,000 converting the car into the hotrod of his high school dreams. He sold it to Morris in February.

On the Fourth of July, someone used a crowbar to force open Morris' garage at his home in the Arran Lakes West neighborhood and then took the car away.

"They picked this particular car out and stole it," said McLaurin, who speaks with as much anger about the theft as Morris. "I feel like my car got stolen, rather than this guy's. I put years and work and sweat in this thing."

Several other owners of restored 1960s and 1970s-era pickups and muscle cars said they think thieves targeted their vehicles.

City and county statistics list about 1,000 motor vehicles of all types stolen each year in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Spokeswomen for the city police and county sheriff say detectives haven't noticed a trend of classic car thefts.

The car owners think they see one.

Rudy Elizondo's 1970 'Cuda, a hotrod version of Plymouth's Barracuda, was taken from his driveway the Saturday before Easter. He and his wife heard it drive off, but the thief was gone before Elizondo could get outside to stop him.

"That car had been in my family since '70," Elizondo said. His sister was the original owner. He had it for 15 years and enjoyed entering it in car shows.

"All the numbers were matching and everything," Elizondo said.

Matching ID numbers can make a car more valuable than a vehicle in which the parts are after-market or are taken from other cars.

Ads for similar models ask for between $25,000 and $150,000. A rare 1971 Hemi 'Cuda convertible was listed for $2 million in January, the CNN/Money Web site reported.

Elizondo guessed his car was worth about $30,000. It wasn't insured for theft.

Last weekend, Morris said, a friend thought he saw Elizondo's 'Cuda being towed on a trailer near Red Springs. He got the police to stop it, but it was the wrong car.



Recent thefts


Other recent classic car thefts:



<LI>In mid-June, someone hot wired Edward Anderson's restored 1971 Chevy C10 pickup and tried to drive it from his house a couple blocks from Morris' home. The thief stalled the truck in the street and ran away when a neighbor came outside to stop him.



<LI>Early this year, someone stole Bruce Erickson's 1969 Chevy C10. He said he spent four years restoring it. "This was my first time building a car, and it will be the last," he said.



<LI>In March 2004, someone broke into the Tri-M Sounds car audio shop on Bragg Boulevard and crashed Gerald Mack's 1971 Oldsmobile 442 through the garage door. He had finished restoring the car in late 2003. "I probably put about 150 miles on it before it was stolen," Mack said. He is restoring another Olds 442.







<LI>In August, Wade Hardin left his 1964 Chevy Impala SS in his driveway on Fort Bragg Road one rainy night instead of putting it in the garage. The next morning, it was gone. He spent the previous 10 months restoring it. "I'd love to have it back because it was a labor of love," he said.

The owners speculate about what happened to their cars.

Did the thieves have a buyer waiting? Were the cars put on a boat and shipped out of the country? Were they stripped for parts? Did the thieves switch the cars' ID numbers so they could create a clean title and sell them?

"Typically they're just chopped," said Scott Reavely, a spokesman for Hagerty Insurance of Traverse City, Mich., which specializes in insuring collector cars. "They're taken and they're immediately turned out into pieces," he said.

Intact, the cars could be recognized, Reavely said. If a car is parted-out, the engine alone might bring $10,000.

From 1999 through 2003, 460 of its Hagerty's clients' cars were stolen, Reavely said, and 102 were recovered.

Muscle cars have been growing in popularity and value, Reavely said. The cars don't have to be "all original." Many people enjoy owning cars that look original but are actually assembled from parts, he said.

The cars are stolen because of the market for vintage parts, said spokeswoman Debbie Tanna of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

"They just sell pieces of the car that they know are hot items," Tanna said.

Morris, whose Chevy Nova was stolen, has looked for it daily. He had 400 full-color fliers printed with a picture of the car and an announcement that he will reward someone $2,500 for its recovery - no questions asked.

He and his friends have passed the fliers out at auto shops, racetracks and other places where car enthusiasts like to gather.

People reported seeing Morris' car in various places - Murchison Road in Fayetteville, in a parade in Robeson County and at a crack house in Lumberton - but the leads have yet to yield useful information, Morris said.

The thought of the car getting chopped galls McLaurin. He tried to keep it pristine.

"I didn't even drive it in the rain," he said. "When I got this car I had the money to build it like I wanted it when I was a kid. Trust me: There were no flaws in this car."

He said he wishes he had never sold it.

Classic theft

Among the restored classic cars reported stolen in Cumberland County.

1966 Chevy II Nova

Stolen: July 4 in Arran Lakes West.

History: Keith McLaurin of Eastover bought it in Utah in 2001 and drove it home with his 12-year-old son. He estimates he spent $35,000 turning it into a nitrous-powered hotrod. Sold to Robert Morris in February 2005.

Estimated value when stolen: $34,000.

1966 Chevrolet Impala SS

Stolen: September on Fort Bragg Road.

Wade Hardin bought it in November 2003.

He and a friend restored it to near-original condition.

He offered a $500 reward for its recovery.

Estimated value when stolen: $38,000.

1971 Oldsmobile 442

Stolen: March 2004 on Bragg Boulevard.

History: Gerald Mack bought it in 1974.

He restored it from 1995 to 2003.

Estimated value when stolen: $20,000

Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached woolvertonp@fayettevillenc.com or at 910-486-3512.




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