Sometimes, when you’ve had a vehicle stolen, you don’t actually want it back. Thieves can damage steering columns, key cylinders, door locks — all sorts of things that can be inconveniently expensive to fix on a cheap beater. This Porsche 911, though, has them all beat. Rather than missing just a few consequential components, this 992 cabriolet is missing nearly everything inside and outside of its unibody.
The photo comes from the Los Angeles Police Department, which claimed in a Facebook post that its officers found what’s left of this 911 sitting on the side of a road last week. The shell is missing its bumpers, lights, interior, engine, transaxle, wheels — nearly everything that can be removed from the car’s core, VIN-bearing structure was ripped off. If you just picked up a wrecked 992 from Copart, prepare for every single piece you need for that project to hit eBay within the next couple months.
Totaled
I’m no insurance expert, but I’ve seen enough totaled vehicles in my time to know that this Porsche is one. These thieves didn’t just hotwire a car, they took everything of value from its skeleton — except, ironically, much of the wiring. The car’s engine wiring harness appears to be gone, but much of the body wiring seems to be intact. There’s still a fuse box in the driver’s footwell, wiring over onto the passenger side, and connectors in the wheel wells and near the tail lights. That has to be a few hundred bucks in parts right there, which makes its presence curious. The thieves clearly had time to work over this car, why not take the wires too?
Comments on the LAPD Facebook post have wondered how a car could be so stripped down in such a public setting, but that’s likely not really what happened here. The car was likely stolen, stripped down in private, and then the chassis — with VIN attached — was unceremoniously dumped back into the world. The cops notified the car’s owner, and the LAPD says its detectives are on the case. How long could a ragtag group like these Porsche-stripping thieves possibly outrun the incredible brains of Los Angeles police?
