19 Classic Cars Stolen by Looters from Orlando Dealer, Only Half Recovered

Car dealerships seem to be among the favorites with the looters, with the Orlando Classic Cars dealership in Florida being one of the latest to report considerable loss.

It doesn't look as if looters are targeting car dealerships for the same reasons they target other shops, whether they sell luxury lingerie, sportswear or food. That is to say, they're not looking to make some extra bucks off the black market or to provide for their families.

The recent incident involving the San Leandro dealership in California, where 50 vehicles, including most high-end Dodge Hellcats were stolen in a single night, indicates that most looters are looking for vehicles they can take out for joyrides and burnouts, and to smash into other cars for fun.

This seems to have been the case here, as well: the Orlando Classic Cars dealership in Florida was hit in the early hours of Monday morning, June 1, and 19 of their vehicles were stolen right off the lot. According to a post on the official Facebook of the dealership, these vehicles included a 1956 Oldsmobile 88, a 1976 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix, a 1980 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and the priciest of them all, a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette "Fuelie" ($85,000).

In a desperate bid to recover at least some of these vehicles, the dealership posted complete information for all, including photos and VIN numbers. With help from the police and thanks to word of mouth on social media, they were able to retrieve several of them – nine, as of the time of writing.

The first one found was a 1962 Corvette, which was in a parking lot outside an apartment complex 13 miles from the dealership. It had no damage. In fact, the majority of the missing vehicles were found in parking lots outside apartment complexes, but there's no word yet whether they received any damage on the way there.