Are the criminal forces of the underground pushing at the boundaries of acceptability? You may think so after learning that the crew of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile woke up on the morning of Friday, February 10, to discover that their catalytic converter was gone.
The 27-foot-long (8.2 meter) novelty truck was in Las Vegas for a series of appearances intended to take place on Super Bowl weekend, reports 8 News Now. While parked at the Sonesta Suites, scoundrels—black-hearted dastards!—made off with the exhaust component under cover of night.
Usually it’s the criminals who have aliases, but as yet more proof that the world has gone topsy-turvy, the next morning, the Wienermobile crew, who go by Corn Dog Clara and “Chad”dar Cheese, went out to start their day. Their plans were cut short, though, because they couldn’t get the vehicle started.
Read: Multimillion-Dollar Catalytic Converter Theft Operation Thwarted By US Law Enforcement
The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile wound up being towed to a Penske shop where Joseph Rodriguez, the parts administrator for the location, said he was quite surprised to find a wiener among the trucks he works on.
“A hot dog truck, no way,” Rodriguez said. “Imagine like a huge hot dog in the middle of your bay. There’s all these other trucks and you got to work on this.”
Fortunately, although the shop didn’t have the replacement part and estimates suggested that it could take months to order in, mechanics were able to find a catalytic converter that was a close enough fit to Jerry rig it into place temporarily, and get the Wienermobile back on the road.
Although their quick thinking saved the day in this case, it’s just the latest, and most food-shaped, example of such a crime occurring. As has been well-reported, thefts of catalytic converters increased sharply through the pandemic as the values of the rare metals used in them skyrocketed.
Although the problem didn’t ground the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile for too long, repairs like these are expensive and difficult to complete, according to Rodriguez.
“There’s gaskets there that you need to reseal the converter, and then there’s sensors all along that area to regulate the heat and temperature of the system,” he said. “Those are all gone as well. They tear that apart to get to what they want.”
Unfortunately, the rascals behind this crime have yet to be identified by police.
