NEED HELP = stolen 1973 Trans Am
 

I need the help of the forum, the Pontiac community & more specifically the guys here who know the 70-73 cars to help find our 1973 Trans Am. It was stolen at Terry Spear's shop in Columbia TN. We went there with the police to finally cut our losses with him & just get the car back but once we got there we discovered the car was gone. When questioned by the police Terry said he put it outside one day & someone must have stolen it, he didn't know anything about it (the owner of a restoration shop put a car outside then didn't know it went missing....). When the officer cross referenced the eye witnesses living across the street they never saw any red car at the shop place outside. When we asked to take the remaining parts home, Terry Spear said they were all in the car when he moved it outside & they must have been stolen too. The major parts include the following:

original #'s matching completely rebuilt 455 (carb to pan)
original 4 spd & hurst shifter
original 10 bolt
red trans am fenders
red trans am hood
red shaker scoop
red nose
rechromed rear bumper
Rally II with new BFG radial TA's 245/60-15
Dash
TA bezel & gauges
restored AC unit
all the glass

The last official picture we have of the car is by Tom Hart in June 2013 for a Pontiacs of Tennessee article. He went to Terry's shop to do an article on him & luckily snapped a pic as well as mentioned it. It can be found here:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/pontiactn/...%20-%20rev.pdf

When questioned by the police Terry said it was just a rolling shell & there was nothing in the car but clearly you can see there was from the picture.

I have searched Craig's List & found some of his parts he posts there but so far none were from the TA. He also sells on eBay but I have not been able to find his current user name to search his history of past auctions.

We do not have much left after paying him thousands over the years to finish the car but my father & I been able to put together a small $1000 reward for any information that would bring an arrest regarding this case OR a recovery of parts over $1000. If you or anyone you know has purchased a firebird shell or parts from Terry Spear since June 2013 PLEASE contact myself of Sergeant Michael Kash of the Columbia TN Police dpt at 931-982-0299

Thank you all very very much with anything you can do!

I will keep an eye out in Texas for you.

Eyes peeled up in the north east! I hope you catch the scumbag who stole this car! It definitely sounds like the shop owner has/had a hand in this.

That sucks

Since the car was numbers matching we hope to catch the "person" who stole it by tracking the vin number on the block or hidden vin # on the body. Problem is we need to get the word out to as many people as we can in the Pontiac community in the hopes that someone may know of a person who purchased a rebuilt 455 or a project roller within the past year & we can trace it back to our car.
The title is in my fathers personal info in a safety deposit box in NC so I am trying to get that information here soon to post...

Thank you VERY much for the support!

Insurance? Would this not be his responsibility since you left the car in his care? Any reputable shop certainly has insurance. Best of luck on this.

You would think.............. but I doubt he has any.
Truth be told he has filed for bankruptcy on more than one occasion & move his restoration shop 4 times since he has had the car. We have hunted & followed him from Orlando FL (Terry's GTO shop) to Apopka FL to Pulaski TN (Spear's Performance) to Columbia TN.

We are looking into all legal actions so I appreciate the insurance aspect. We will be following up on that!

http://http://knoxville.craigslist.org/pts/4732207567.html


This guy may have heard of something related to your car.

Best of luck finding the bastard who stole it. I also think the shop owner had a hand in the disappearance.

Wow, that truly sucks! Sorry for your bad luck!

Look out in Georgia
 

Cdoggy, I am on the look out here in GA. Best of luck on getting this guy and your car back.

This smells really bad - best of luck in finding it!

Can you post the VIN of the car? That way if anyone googles the VIN, they will see your posting here.

WOW !!! that sucks...

I'm only 60 miles from Columbia so I'll keep a lookout.

if you are on Facebook, you may want to post it on several trans am groups: Trans Am lovers, 2nd gen firebirds, National Trans Am and Firebird club, Trans Am Parts for sale and Pontiac pickers just to name a few. I'll keep an eye out in the Midwest for you.

Good info guys & thanks for the support!

I feel your PAIN..........

Will keep my eyes and ears open in the Pacific Northwest....

Your car is optioned just like mine. If it ends up all the way here in Alaska, I'll come looking for you.

This just sucks. My car will never be out of my site with anybody that I don't know and trust.

wow is that the dark side of this hobby, sorry for you. how people like that sleep at night is beyond me. and to do it in the light of day, tell LE some lame story a five year old would say, and oh yes I always put all the parts in them before leaving outside in elements while restoring, yowza....... the real task is being on the look out on this a few months from now. I would expect the ebay / Craigslist parting out to appear after this cools a bit. the thieves don't care this is a matching number car. It is 8K on the low side of quick sale parts at wholesale rates, not including the body shell.

It is just crazy to think how bad people can treat other people :[

I did however to remember to pull the VIN from the police report so be on the lookout for:
2V87Y3N141428

Also, don't know if you have ever used searchtempest, but you can search all of craigslist at once with it.

I will keep an eye open in my area. Vin code written down for just in case I see something here. Best wishes on recovering your car. Sad, sad deal :(

search tempest is awesome & use it all the time. Will come in VERY handy!

Thanks again everyone for the support.

Get an attorney & pursue this - there is foul play involved!

Looks like some people are looking out for others :}

After posting this ad on Nashville TN CL:
http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/4809393450.html

Someone contacted me & told me to look on the Pontiac Pickers Classified group on FB:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Pont...1725361258730/

I cant believe he had the balls to say what he said like that in a public forum & self incriminate himself. Heck, 2 people saw that car in his shop a year ago & one even remembered the ad Terry posted on CL where he listed it for sale!!! ---> If ANYONE remembers this ad or knows who purchased this car from Terry about a year ago, PLEASE contact me :(

FYI - If the FB link doesn't work for you I believe it is bc it is a closed group.
I went to FB & searched for Pontiac Pickers Classified. When I got there I asked to join the group. Takes a few minutes to approve & then once I did I saw all the comments people have been posting about him & our car!

Take screen shots of anything thats posted on the car in case comments are deleted.
such a low life act. I am really disappointed that any shop would take advantage of a customer like this o matter what car it is just wrong.
good luck and i hope you find it.

That shop owner needs a good old Canadian style hockey beatdown:censored:

Better call Saul....no wait, Walter White will handle it better!!

To take thousands and THEN steal car. I averted a similar situation on my 72 Formula 400 a year and a half ago after paying 5K down (and losing it). Re-po'd car in pieces after a year and nothing done. I suspect it would have disappeared also. The guy is in town and someday he will get his. It is hard to resist doing something physical. I know people say to do that, but really, who wants to go to jail?

Stolen car
 

I bet he still has the car hidden some where. Hire a private detective to follow him. He may have another car to do a vin change with and scrap you vin on the other rust bucket. Very popular with dishonest restoration shops.

Hope you find it. I will keep a look out in Texas.

I remember it for sale on Craigslist and called about it but can't remember what was said about it.

I remember him from way back in the day when he was in Orlando (80's and 90's). I heard about "shady" deals back then. People would discover parts missing off their cars in his shop, etc...

I hate this kind of thing because it makes all the honest people have to put up with this kind of crap when we go to sell parts and/or cars. All I can say is ask around and do some research before you hand anybody your car or money. Deal with people who have a very open presence in the Pontiac community. If they are screwing customers you will hear about it. Just remember if it sounds to good to be true then walk away, no run!

I have to ask if there is more to the story. In other words did he place a mechanics lien against your car? Did you fail to respond or miss a payment? The reason I ask is that tactic is sometimes used to gain possession of a vehicle and then sell it for money owed. It can be done and some people "abuse" it for their advantage.

MarkC

Similar thing happened to a guy with a 73 Grand Am. Had it at a shop in Wisconsin doing custom bodywork on a pay-as-you-go basis. He stopped work on it during the recession and there was miscommunication over storage fees. The car disappeared without warning and the shop owner refused to say what happened to it. It hasn't been seen since. Police considered it a civil matter.

Make sure the police department enters the VIN into NCIC. That way when someone tries to register the vehicle it will turn up as stolen

I will keep an eye out in central IL

I checked FL & TN. No mechanics lien filed. VIN # still reg to us here in FL. Nothing in TN. I need to check GA, AL, & NC just to be safe.....

2 new threads posted on TAC:
http://transamcountry.com/community/...?topic=68503.0

http://transamcountry.com/community/...?topic=68669.0


So far had one guy contact me about some missing RAIV parts on his GTO from Terry but the real kicker is I had 2 additional people come forward & tell me they saw the ad on CL, saw the car in person AND HAD TERRY OFFER IT TO THEM FOR SALE!!! I let the police know about this & I have heard nothing so far :(

Someone has got to know who ended up with this car...

May have a small break... I received some good info from a member who saw it posted for sale by Terry in mid April 2013 on CL so I am keeping my fingers crossed to see if ANYONE remembers it or has proof / pics of this...

No Craig's list archive ?

I was thinking the same thing, Craig. Law enforcement would be able to subpoena that information from Craigslist.

I hope you're able to recover your car or get compensated in some form on this raw deal...

Good luck with this, Keep us posted.

Good luck!
We had a customer in Ozark Alabama that suffered a break in and the store owner couldn't get the time of day from his local force. How do you feel about the response you've received from the locals?

Have you tried Yellow Bullet?

^^^ That's actually a good idea. Those guys can be relentless and the membership on that forum is HUGE.

I second the motion. Post up on YB.

I found this link that may help you. It's called Harmari craigslist search and it has access to archived craigslist ads going back several years. You have to register and pay a fee (and you may need someones help like a PI or an officer with a badge number) but I looked into the search parameters and it allows you to put in the month/day/year from and to and you can pick specific cities craigslist ads or do a whole state, as well as put in the kind of car and section of craigslist to search. Not sure if it will lead to anything but it would be pretty helpful if you found the ad for your car. Here's the link: https://www.harmari.com/search/craigslist/

Stolen:
 

Could this be your car?

http://www.trucks2cars.com/car-detai...635116600.html

That one has been on ebay a few times recently, So I doubt It's the stolen Trans Am.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Trans-A...vip=true&rt=nc

OP's TA was a 4 speed I believe?

The ebay one is a TH400.

:confused:

Ya, not mine but THANK YOU for looking though!
I appreciate all the help guys!!!