[69Goat1]

Meth heads... They don't care about the car. They stole the tank for the gas and the gas tank was just something handy to hold it in while they took it. As a bonus they take the tank with a bunch of other metal stuff they have stolen to the scrap yard to sell... It was a crime of opportunity and they took it. Easy Peasy...

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by 69Goat1

Meth heads... They don't care about the car. They stole the tank for the gas and the gas tank was just something handy to hold it in while they took it. As a bonus they take the tank with a bunch of other metal stuff they have stolen to the scrap yard to sell... It was a crime of opportunity and they took it. Easy Peasy...

Zombies?!!!

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

It's amazing that the whole car wasn't missing when you came back out.
Since about 1990 it has been unsafe to park a nice GTO anywhere out in the open unattended. If you go park your car in unattended public parking lots, take a Ford
Taurus or Honda Civic.

I'm sure glad I don't live by you...

I've been driving my '64 since 1994 and in nice weather it gets parked outside with the top down. Fathers Day we took a cruise to an arts and craft fair 40 miles away and had it parked in a public lot near the park.

Of course, I live in flyover country near the corn fields, so maybe it's just a little bit different lifestyle.

[rohrt]

That just doesn't make much sense to steal a gas tank. Gives me one more reason to never drive my FB out of the garage unless I plan to come strait back when I'm done.

As for as motive money doesn't make sense. The thieves wouldn't know if it was full or empty. Even if full would only get them what $50. Unless like someone else posted they did it to disable the car and even if that was the case their would easier ways to do that. I wonder if they just needed a new gas tank for their chevelle?

I recall some kids back in high school (late 80s)when they exploded their spider gears cruising the local strip. Not to be deterred they snuck into the back of a car dealership and pulled a center section out of a compatible GM car. Couple hours later they were out cruising around again. Imagine the surprise for the dealership owner.

[68lemansman]

Could be a bunch of huffers. I think that's what you call them. They sniff gas,glue, paInt. You must of had some GOOD gas in there.

[400 4spd.]

One morning my Dad was going to take my Mom to work and the '61 Biscayne wouldn't budge. He put it in reverse and it just revved. Seems someone had blocked the back tire with a brick from our neighbor's flower bed so the car would stay still when they stole the drive shaft.
A year or so later, a neighbor 2 doors down went to start his sweet '64 Olds Starfire convertible. He said whoever stole his carb must have hooked the throttle spring up to something, because he kept pumping the gas to get it started. Probably thought it was flooded and held it down, because when it lit it boomed, and I and everyone else came out their houses to see it burning.
It burned to crisp while the Fire Department was on the way.

[PonchoV8]

Are you positive you had the gas tank on the car when you left?

I heard a guy say he worked as a VW tech in Florida in the 1970s or early 1980s. He said a couple of them would go to a theater and steal someone's engine in about 8 minutes. Imagine coming out to your car with your date in the dark and it won't even turn over.

[form74]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

One morning my Dad was going to take my Mom to work and the '61 Biscayne wouldn't budge. He put it in reverse and it just revved. Seems someone had blocked the back tire with a brick from our neighbor's flower bed so the car would stay still when they stole the drive shaft.

That happened to my buddy about 15 years ago, came out in the morning and his K5 Blazer woundn't move. He was able to move it out of the way to get another car out by putting in 4WD.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Maybe they were looking for the build sheet?

(lol)

K

Best answer

[Motor Daddy]

One morning my neighbor's wife was gonna go to work and she started her Toyota 4 Runner and it sounded like a tank. Somebody cut out the catalytic convertor. It was gone! Must have used a cordless saws-all or something.

But stealing a gas tank??? WTF!!!

[hpp]

Strange...Whats next your spark plugs? I swear people will steal anything,sorry to hear they did that.

[cuz68]

Maybe someone has pulled a joke on you? Im like the rest I have never saw any thing like this, Hope you get your tank back, Did you call the cops? what did thay say.

[Bob Hall]

Personally, I think the Meth heads mentioned previously is the most plausible explanation. Nothing.....Nothing those people do surprise me anymore.

[bsblguy]

Years ago when I worked in downtown LA a co-workers car was broken into and they stole an AM radio from a ford granada. Radio didn't even work. Stealing a gas tank is pretty strange though.

[Stuart]

Maybe some local GTO owner needed a new gas tank...who knows. At some point I figured out it's a waste of effort to try to figure out why people steal stuff, there's just no logical reason for most of it.

[geeteeohguy]

"It's a waste of effort to try to figure out why people steal stuff, there's just no logical reason for it..."
People steal stuff because they don't want to pay for it. Trying to see the criminal's side of the equation is like trying to negotiate with terrorists or trying to talk a shark out of biting your leg off. Meth (and drugs in general) has been, is, and will be the downfall of this country. It is politically incorrect to hold drug addicts and recreational drug users responsible for the border wars, drug cartels, and murders that occur to keep our population steadily supplied with drugs. Meth is particulary bad...worse than Heroin when it comes to health issues, crime, and hospital bills you and I pay in medical insurance increases in order to treat these guys when they blow themselves up. Earlier in the year, a house blew up a mile from work...it felt like a truck hit the building. Leveled the house (meth lab run by two illegals). One ran away and escaped, the other was burned over 80% of his body. Guess who's paying for his hospital bill of $2 million? We are. And thousands of others like him. Meth people (tweekers) become non-people in a hurry and ought to be euthanized, IMO.

[Region Warrior]

Crazy for sure.

[gtohurstjudge]

Originally Posted by The Champ

I'm sure glad I don't live by you...

I've been driving my '64 since 1994 and in nice weather it gets parked outside with the top down. Fathers Day we took a cruise to an arts and craft fair 40 miles away and had it parked in a public lot near the park.

Of course, I live in flyover country near the corn fields, so maybe it's just a little bit different lifestyle.

Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore! Here in Dallas if you park a nice GTO
in an unattended large parking lot at a movie theatre, shopping center, the mall, a grocery
store etc. chances are you won't like what you see when you come out to get back in
the car, if there even is a GTO to get into! One of my friends restored a 70 GTO convertible
and stopped at a shopping center for fifteen minutes on the way back from a car show
and both sides of the car were keyed all the way from the front bumper to the rear bumper..
this was on a new 16,000 dollar paint job. I was amazed that the car was even there at
all when he came back out. In Plano where I live, organized gangs prey on all the public parking lots along
US highway 75 and steal anything that is older and doesn't have an antitheft system. By the next
day the cars and trucks are in Mexico. I have a spare beater car that I use primarily to go to movie theatres, the mall,
along hiway 75, etc. I wouldn't dream of parking any of my nice cars in such an area, even my late model stuff.

[jasonblair]

UPDATE - THE GAS TANK HAS BEEN FOUND! They recovered it in a ditch off of state road 67. It's scraped up on the bottom, and there is a small dent in the corner, but not so bad that it will affect the tank capacity (maybe a quart less will fit). When I bought the car, the tank had a thick black coating on it (not as thick as Zeibart undercoating, but thicker than normal paint), but due to the scrapes, now has bare metal exposed. No straps or brackets to be found though... so I'm still waiting on them to arrive.

As an aside, when I was driving home yesterday, I had news radio on, and they mentioned how Indiana just passed a bill requiring all pawn shops to hold payment on all platinum and catalytic converters for ten days, as a deterrent to cut down on theft!

[jasonblair]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore! Here in Dallas if you park a nice GTO
in an unattended large parking lot at a movie theatre, shopping center, the mall, a grocery
store etc. chances are you won't like what you see when you come out to get back in
the car, if there even is a GTO to get into! One of my friends restored a 70 GTO convertible
and stopped at a shopping center for fifteen minutes on the way back from a car show
and both sides of the car were keyed all the way from the front bumper to the rear bumper..
this was on a new 16,000 dollar paint job. I was amazed that the car was even there at
all when he came back out.

I would actually be surprised if lots of GTOs are stolen... They aren't exactly low profile, and chop shops probably don't have an easily fungible market to sell the parts to. That's why I always hear the most commonly stolen cars are Camrys, Civics, etc...

I'm sure people would love to steal a GTO for the joy-riding aspect, but I would think the vast majority of professional car thieves would move on.