Car shows are a great way for like-minded enthusiasts to get together, and they’re often a way for fans to get close to cars they couldn’t afford to buy and drive.
Unfortunately for John Hotchkis, founder of Hotchkis Sport Suspension, some lowlives decided that not being able to afford a modified vintage muscle car wasn’t going to stop them having one, and they helped themselves to his.
The thieves stole Hotchkis’s rapid Dodge Challenger from the Fairfield Marriott hotel at Myrtle Beach, SC, while he was in town to attend the Run to the Sun event. But the scum didn’t only make off with the 1970 E-Max Challenger on Saturday night while Hotchkis was sleeping. The 5.6-liter, triple-carb Dodge, which is valued at more than $150,000, was locked inside a trailer so the thieves took the 22-ft Hallmark trailer and the 2001 Ford F-350 Super Duty tow vehicle as well.
“It was a real tough loss for us. This is one of our iconic cars and we were having such a great time in Myrtle Beach then all of a sudden things turned terrible,” Hotchkis told WMBF News.
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“We’re hoping it doesn’t get put on a boat and sent somewhere else because the car is so popular,” he said of the classic E-body Dodge that has been featured in magazines and even immortalized as a Hot Wheels toy car during the more than 10 years Hotchkis has owned it. “It’s so well known. There’s a number of people that built cars because of this car.”
The car and towing rig were last seen between 9 P.M. on March 18 and 9 A.M. on March 19, but unfortunately the hotel’s cameras weren’t operational so police don’t have any footage of the theft taking place.
Run to the Sun is an annual event open to pre-1989 cars and is one of the most popular car shows in the southeast, attracting over 3,300 vehicles. Anyone with information about the missing vehicles is asked to contact the Myrtle Beach Police Department at 843-918-1382, reference report #23-004145.