Jalopnik: stolen cars

Stolen Condom-Mobile Recovered...Without The Condoms

Mark Arnold — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:20:00 EDT

A condom-mobile recently stolen in Mexico City was recovered yesterday, much to the relief of Mexico's federal Health Department. But that relief didn't last long: Once the condom-mobile was ripped open, officials discovered the payload of 5,000 prophylactics had been pulled out. Also missing were 800 HIV tests, some sound equipment and a 23-foot (or so they claim) inflatable condom. The truck, which, try as we might, we couldn't find a photo of, is apparently painted up with images of a peeled banana, the exposed part shaped like a condom, and a shirtless man saying: "I protect myself. Do you?" With a paint job like that, it's not surprising it didn't take long for the police to locate the stolen vehicle. [AP via CNN] (Hat tip to Katherine!)

New Top Ten Stolen Cars List Shows Criminals Love The '90s

Mark Arnold — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:20:00 EDT

The National Insurance Crime Bureau just announced their list of the top ten most stolen cars, and surprisingly, most of them were cheaper older models from the 1990s. Forbes says it's because these cars' parts have a greater demand on the salvage market, which is probably true since every '95 Honda Civic we see on the road seems to be sporting a hood from some other Civic. Full list below the jump.

1 - 1995 Honda Civic
2 - 1991 Honda Accord

3 - 1989 Toyota Camry

4 - 1997 Ford F-150 Series Pickup

5 - 1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 Pickup

6 - 1994 Acura Integra

7 - 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup

8 - 1994 Nissan Sentra

9 - 1988 Toyota Pickup

10 - 2007 Toyota Corolla

Jalopnik Snap Judgement: Although you may think this list is oddly specific with model years, there's actually a method to the madness. For example, the 1995 model year Honda Civic was the last year of the 5th generation. Consequently, Honda had worked out many of the supplier and manufacturing bugs — so parts ended up being more durable. But also, there's more of the 95s out on the street for the same reason. [Forbes]

Japan Thief Uses Ingenious GPS Plan To Steal Cars

Travis Hudson — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:40:00 EDT

You know, we should not be condoning stealing cars, but the route Mitsuhisa Kobayashi used to nab eight different cars was a pretty smart one. A fact that is already telling of his character, Kobayashi has two ex-wives—both of which he instructed to rent cars. He then made copies of the keys and planted GPS tracking devices, similar to this one, on the car. The ex-wives returned the cars and Kobayashi simply waited for them to be rented again and got away with the vehicles. His reasoning behind stealing the vehicles was pretty simple, as well:

I wanted to drive my favorite cars. I sold the other five cars on the Internet.

With copycat criminals running rampant, it may be time for car rental agencies to invest in a little protection. [Daily Yomiuri Online] (Image via Getty)

Stolen Mustang Returned To Owner After 38 Years Of TLC By Somebody Else

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:30:00 EDT

There's a certain unbelievability to this story out of the city of angels. In 1970, Eugene Brakke had his shiny gold '65 Ford Mustang stolen from him. He reported the theft, but nothing came about for another 38 years. Sure he could have used the Lost Car Registry, but that takes two to tango. Little did Brakke know, but the car had been sold through a (crooked) dealer to the father of Judy Smongesky, who gave it to her as a high school graduation present. Judy has held onto and maintained the car all these years, even having two engine rebuilds and a paint job done. It wasn't until she tried to sell the car that the red flags went up.

Police notified her of the car's stolen status and put her in contact with Eugene. Happy ending: The car will be returning to the original owner in a different color with an extra 300,000 miles on it. But its heading home. Though, at this point, "home" is a relative term, since Judy owned the car for 38 years and Eugene had it only four. [Local6 News]