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This 1980 Toyota Celica Supra Mark 1 – previously featured as a Curbside Classic right here on TTAC – has been stolen in Eugene, Oregon.
Let’s help its rightful owners get it back.
This single-family, multi-generational Toyota Celica was stolen sometime between the night of May 20th and the morning of May 21st from the driveway of Lois Harvick and her son, Kelan Enos, in Eugene, Oregon. Lois’ father bought the car new in 1980, a purchase Lois says “was a big deal for my parents to splurge on a sports car.”
Lois’ father eventually passed the car down to her and her son six months ago after the father suffered multiple strokes and was unable to drive. This way, at least the car would stay in the family. Unfortunately, some dirtbag has put a wrench in those plans.
If you see this Celica Supra around Eugene or anywhere in Oregon, please call the Eugene Police Department at (541) 682-5111 and reference case #15-15884.
Maybe car theft isn’t murder, but car thieves are one of my most hated class of criminal. It’s one thing to steal a year-old Camry that you can replace inside of a week, but when it’s something sentimental like this, that’s simply not acceptable.
It seems that the existing penalties for auto theft aren’t having the appropriate deterrent effect, so here’s my two cents.
Make the car thief PERSONALLY pay every cent of restitution to the people he victimized, after they run the guy through a gauntlet of Jackass stunts. I mean EVERY CENT, and don’t let ’em fob it off on some insurance company or rich relative.
I don’t care if it puts the guy in hock for years.
You’re much too lenient, I vote death or exile.
Given them a lousy surplus parachute (will it get them to the ground safely or not?) and drop them into a middle east hotspot. Let them learn to get by living there.
Definitely a need for increased sentences. The problem with the restitution part is that a lot of these guys/girls legal earning power means it would take them the rest of their life to repay the costs on a stolen and stripped base Corolla. The RCMP here puts out a list of “most wanted” car thieves every so often and it’s always down-and-outs, some with 30+ convictions for auto theft (each which seems to net them 30-90 days to a max of a year in jail).
Nah, kmoney. As long as the restitution order has a dual status as both a civil and criminal judgment, it’s good.
While the guy is on probation, he can be rousted a few times to get him to pay. After his probation expires, it remains as a non -dischargeable debt, like a student loan, wrecking his ability to get a decent loan for the next ten or twenty years. I wouldn’t worry too much about someone returning to a life of crime to pay a restitution order for the simple reason that they are not too worried about them.
It’s the least we can do.
Chain gang along with restitution?
I agree with you. Personal property doesn’t get enough respect from the law. Especially something that can be as personal to people (like all of us here)who love their cars. Also. as you said, I’m sure the idiot thieves who stole it are probably beating it to death and it will never be the same again. Hopefully they catch the punks who stole it and punish them severely.
OneAlpha – that is why they hanged horse thieves.
Stuff like this always sounds good and satisfying…until you realize that if you hand some guy a bill for tens of thousands of dollars on his way out of the joint, it just makes it more likely he’ll be right back. After all, these folks have a seriously hard time finding work (which I get – I’d be reluctant to hire a con), and they end up gravitating back to what they knew, which was crime.
But it is satisfying to think about.
That’s why we’d be better off just putting them down the first time it happens.
The problem is he’s probably a 15 year old gang member pledge. But with licence plate recognition/scanners and no real call for its parts, it’ll likely be recovered in days, if it’s not already been recovered. It takes days sometimes to notify the owner.
Thieves use stolen cars for a one-way trip and abandon them quick.
@DenverMike
I agree. This isn’t something to get chopped, so they’ll probably get it back. But it might be all banged up and ruined in the meantime.
Beautiful car. I hope these people get it back intact, and soon. (I don’t think of Eugene as a hotspot for car theft!)
Good luck getting it back most likely it’s sitting in some shop, getting ready to be customized with an inline six, swapped auto for a manual and a paint job and off for some low life to enjoy. I detest car thieves.
So you are saying the thieves somehow foiled “The Club” anti-theft device that these owners no doubt purchased back in the day? (I know I had one).
Yes they bypassed the “Club” and the one that went between the wheel and the brake also.
I don’t get it, why would anybody want to steal a Malaise Era beige coupe with automatic and a big dent? It’s useless for parts and it’s probably not a great joy ride. What’s the point? There are some weird car thieves living in Oregon.
I’m not so sure about the useless for parts bit, I’d imagine there are people who fix these up and finding all the right pieces probably isn’t easy. Could probably do pretty well parting this out on ebay.
Go find a clean, non-modified version of this and we will talk – prices on old Celicas and Supras might surprise you. Finding one in the first place isn’t all that easy. This is a 35 year old car, so you are in collector and classic car territory.
I think a better question is: What kind of idiot steals a car that will stick out like a sore thumb. I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these on the street.
I thought this too. You can’t hide in traffic a rare Japanese coupe.
Tuners do wonders with old Corollas, don’t understand why these are not as much sought after for modding.
Too bad, but this is an opportunity to enhance the appeal.
Buy a Citroën SM now.
There is one of the at my local Advance Auto Parts store. Obviously somone’s who works there.
That’s a damn shame. If there’s one thing worse than stealing a car, it’s stealing a car that’s someone’s baby.
Such a nice looking old design. I especially like the fanciful badging in orange, and the barrel shaped lights out back. And how the liftgate is all one piece of glass.