STOLEN 5-3-14 / 1958 Nash Ambassador @ Smithfield R.I.

[CarFreak]

NOT MY CAR - From AMC Rambler Club Facebook page:

This 1958 Ambassador by Rambler was stolen from the 4 Season's Inn in Smithfield RI on 5-3-2014. If anyone sees this car (in person, on eBay, on Craig's List etc.) please contact Bob at 203-233-6867.

Like horse thieves, car thieves should be hanged. :mad:

[junkyardjeff]

First time I have heard about a Rambler being stolen since its usually muscle cars or much more popular vehicles,I hope they get it back without too much damage done to it since it looks like a very nice car.

[Guest AlCapone]

Would it not be a good idea to call the police department first ? You should list the telephone number of the police department involved ! Wayne

[Dandy Dave]

I hope the car is found. What to do with the Thieves...

Form a Posse, Catch em, then String em up at least three times from different parts to be sure they're good and dead. What's left over just toss in a big pile of brush and light er up. After that they'll be pushin up daisy's and the devils problem.... Dandy Dave!

[CarFreak]

FWIW, more vintage & classics are being stolen these days - many targeted from their locked garages but theft from hotels & events is not uncommon. Chevrolet seem to be the primary targets with other makes Cadillac, Porsche, Olds, Ford also taken. Less common are the orphans but you can't say never.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/08/08/stolen-car-alert-1955-studebaker-president/

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/01/23/stolen-car-alert-1969-amc-amx/

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/news/stolen-vintage-car-recovered-in-auburn/article_a98f5860-0b5a-542c-ac76-c61e54742567.html?mode=image&photo=0

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2010/03/05/stolen-studebaker-could-be-in-barrie-area

http://www.wsati.org/stolenclassics.html

Edited May 7, 2014 by CarFreak (see edit history)

[CarFreak]

I see Hemmings.com has an article about the stolen 1958: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/category/stolen-vehicles/

Any Northeasterner into AMCs must have seen Bob Majeski’s 1958 Rambler Ambassador over the last 14 years: In the time that he’s owned it, Bob has put 34,000 miles on it driving it to pretty much every major AMC show in the region. Now Bob is counting on that familiarity to bring his car back to him after thieves took it in broad daylight over the weekend.

“I used to joke, ‘Why would anybody ever steal it?’” Bob said. “It’s pretty much the only one around, and nobody needs any parts from it. And yeah, it’s a beautiful car, but it’s a 1958 Rambler, so who’d want it?”

Nevertheless, after he came back from a drive with some friends, mapping out the weekend’s dust-off run for the Connecticut regions of the American Motors Owners Association and AMC Rambler Club, he found his Ambassador missing from where he left it earlier that afternoon in the parking lot of the All Seasons Inn and Suites in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

“I’m floored,” he said. “I can’t believe anybody would want to steal this car with AMXs and Javelins around it. All I can figure is that somebody thought they were stealing a ’57 Chevy and somebody opening a container in South America will be surprised when they see my car.”

Ordered as a dealer demonstration car, the Ambassador Custom Country Club four-door hardtop (chassis number V38666, one of about 1,300 built) came loaded with just about every option available except for power steering. That means it has the four-barrel 270hp 327-cu.in. V-8, Flash-O-Matic automatic transmission, Twin-Grip limited-slip differential, Weather-Eye, reclining seats, power steering, power brakes, and wide whitewall tires. Thirty years after selling it to make room for the 1959 models, the original dealer bought it back and then held on to it until his death. Bob, a co-founder of the Nash Car Club of America and a certified AMC nut who’s owned 13 Nashes and five or six AMCs, then bought the Ambassador from the dealer’s widow several years later.

At the time, it showed 51,000 miles, and all Bob’s really had to do to it in the years since is replace a few pieces of chrome trim, recondition almost the entire drivetrain, and put more miles on it. “It’s been a great road car,” he said. “In 2002, I took it to Kenosha, and the farthest I drove it was to the AMO national meet in Georgia (in 2005).”

Anybody with information on the whereabouts of Bob’s Ambassador should call Bob himself at 203-758-5758 or the Smithfield Police Department at 401-231-2500.

[R Walling]

Do thieves have no shame?

Stealing a 58 Nash? (;-)[h=2][/h]

[Guest Skyking]

I hope the car is found. What to do with the Thieves...

Form a Posse, Catch em, then String em up at least three times from different parts to be sure they're good and dead. What's left over just toss in a big pile of brush and light er up. After that they'll be pushin up daisy's and the devils problem.... Dandy Dave!

Dave, unfortunately we are too civilized in America to be that cruel.

BTW, I've seen the car, it is beautiful!

[Guest Magoo]

This is an uncomfortable reminder that vintage autos have none of the anti-theft measures of modern cars. A car of this era can be driven away in mere seconds with no trouble at all. We need 1) to be extra vigilant and 2) incorporate our own theft prevention measures.

I don't know if collector cars are increasingly a target or if I've become more aware of these cases lately, but in the past few years there have been multiple thefts at several old car events, suggesting there may be rings working the shows. Some of the cars were driven away, while others were quickly loaded into enclosed trailers and absconded with. Heads up.

[Rusty_OToole]

How can the thieves not get caught? You would think driving around in a car like that would be like running down the street with your hair on fire, guaranteed to attract attention. Or how could they sell or register such a car? If they can't drive it or sell it without getting caught what is the point of stealing it?

[Bleach]

I'm sure there's little that can be done if someone is intent on stealing a car. I have a feeling someone may have rolled it into a box trailer and took off with it.

I've thought about adding hidden kill switches but that won't keep someone from rolling it into a trailer.

[Rusty_OToole]

You could add a GPS type device that will allow locating the car anywhere. With this information the police should be able to find it within minutes.

[cutlasguy]

My first car was a 1959 Rambler Ambassador. What a car. 327 under the hood topped with a holley 4 barrel. Boy could she move! I only wish I could find one like it for sale.

[Curti]

How can the thieves not get caught? You would think driving around in a car like that would be like running down the street with your hair on fire, guaranteed to attract attention. Or how could they sell or register such a car? If they can't drive it or sell it without getting caught what is the point of stealing it?

Many old cars leave this country illegally. Years ago when I sold prewar Chevrolet parts, I met a fellow in Minnesota that was my competition. He always had nicest and rarest parts to sell. It turned out that the parts were from stolen cars.