Classic muscle car stolen from owner’s driveway

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) – A can’t miss muscle car that’s been proudly on display in the owner’s driveway is nowhere to be found

Police said the 1970 Oldsmobile 442 was stolen in broad daylight at Ray Ebert’s home off Cunningham Road.

Ray valued the car around $16,000 but you can’t put a price on the hard work he put in to restore it.

Now, he is worried the person behind the wheel now isn’t showing the car the same TLC he did for so many years.

Nothing gets Ebert’s motor running like a classic Oldsmobile.

“My first one was a 1965 convertible 442,” he said as he stood next to another 442 in his backyard.

“(Oldsmobile’s) performance models were as strong as anybody’s.”

Besides the model he keeps out back, there was another one his family owned. “It was the wife’s Christmas present,” he said.

They bought the car in 2011 and Ebert restored it. He fixed the convertible top, replaced some engine parts, gave it a blue paint job (the color his wife wanted) and redid the interior.

“Went to different car shows with it. It was popular, especially with the women,” he said.

Recently, the couple parked it on their driveway and put it up for sale. But unfortunately, somebody skipped the idea of buying the car and stolen it in the middle of the day Sunday.

“I figure it’s probably somebody that stopped and looked it over,” he said.

“Unbelievable, shocking,” said neighbor, Amanda Faulkner. She lives across the street and was one the last people to see car.

“I’ve never noticed it not being there until that day, I think that’s what was so odd and then three hours later the police came by to ask us questions,” she said.

Ebert and his wife Cindy hope it turns up but more importantly still in one piece.

“It makes me sick to think maybe it went where they’ve taken it totally apart,” Cindy said as she started to tear up. “I’d rather seen it go to somebody who’s going to enjoy it.”

For now the rare ride is in the wrong hands, but their drive to find it won’t stall.

“You never know. We could run across it,” Ebert said.

Ebert said his children have posted about the stolen car on Facebook and he said it’s been shared more than a hundred times.

He also contacted his friends who collect Oldsmobile’s to put them on notice in case someone tries to sell it or its parts.

The car is blue with white stripes and a hood scoop. Ebert believes it was the only one of its kind in Central Indiana.

Anyone who thinks they’ve seen it is asked to call the Speedway Police Department at 317-246-4300.