whats the worst hotrod thing you've had stolen

A nice T-10 4-speed....

 

never had much stolen from around here other then a go kart frame that would have taken at least 2 guys to take and over 500lbs of steel(some 3" solid round bar) from my backyard most likely scrappers

 

32 grille shell off my 29 highboy, one night at Belmont Speedway, CA, 1960.

 

In 1984-85 I ran the hitch department in a U-Haul service center, one Friday night thieves stole a
U-Haul truck, broke into my shop and stole every tool in sight and loaded them on the stolen truck
and drove away. Cost over $2500. for my personal tools. Don't know how much the company spent
for the company tools...
LW

 

Not really a hot rod part, but......a few years ago I sold my 1940 Chevy coupe to a well known left coast Top Fuel competitor. I drove to Metro Airport to deliver the car to him. He asked if he could borrow my vanity plate to drive the car to his friends house about 10 miles away. He never contacted me again.

About a year later I seen my car for sale on the web. I contacted the seller and asked if he had my plate! He did, and sent it to me gratis! ( he was not the Top Fuel guy- he had bought the car at an auction!) Anyhoo....every time I see The Top Fuel guy grenade an engine ( or his old lady, she also competes) I think Karma strikes again!!!!!

 

The Stellings & Hellings chrome air cleaner and matching breather stolen the same day that I fixed the hood on my 55 Buick at the trade school I went to. It got stolen that night at work probably by an underclassman with sticky fingers as the hood was known to jump out and clip guys under the chin before I fixed it. Never had moanother part for a hot rod stolen outside of the steel crank for my T bucket growing feet in my buddy's shop in the 70's.
Tools are another story as I've had more tools get stolen out of my tool box in shops than one can count. Maybe borrowed and never returned but gone .just the same, including a totally worn out impact wrench stolen by a wino

 

Went out of town for a weekend, and someone went into my barn and stole roughly 65 pre- 1960 brass radiators.

I called every scrap yard within 100 miles, with no success. Damn tweekers, probably.

---John