NEED HELP = stolen 1973 Trans Am restoration project

[cdoggy81]

Hi everyone,
I hate to post negative news on such a fun & informative forum but I really need the help of the group to help find our 1973 Trans Am, VIN # 2V87Y3N141428 . It was stolen at Terry Spear's shop in Columbia TN. We went there with the police to finally cut our losses with him & just get the car back but once we got there we discovered the car was gone. When questioned by the police Terry said he put it outside one day & someone must have stolen it, he didn't know anything about it (the owner of a restoration shop put a car outside then didn't know it went missing....). When the officer cross referenced the eye witnesses living across the street they never saw any red car at the shop place outside. When we asked to take the remaining parts home, Terry Spear said they were all in the car when he moved it outside & they must have been stolen too. The major parts include the following:

original #'s matching completely rebuilt 455 (carb to pan)
original 4 spd & hurst shifter
original 10 bolt
red trans am fenders
red trans am hood
red shaker scoop
red nose
rechromed rear bumper
restored 15" Rally II wheels with new BFG radial TA's 245/60-15
Dash
TA bezel & gauges
restored AC unit
all the glass

The last official picture we have of the car is by Tom Hart in June 2013 for a Pontiacs of Tennessee article. He went to Terry's shop to do an article on him & luckily snapped a pic as well as mentioned it. It can be found here:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/pontiactn/...%20-%20rev.pdf

When questioned by the police Terry said it was just a rolling shell & there was nothing in the car but clearly you can see there was from the picture.

I have searched Craig's List & found some of his parts he posts there but so far none were from the TA. He also sells on eBay but I have not been able to find his current user name to search his history of past auctions.


My father recently gave his first car (a 1970 firebird 350) to my brother as a graduation present & since I was doing my LS1 resto mod 1970 Trans Am he was going to sell his 1973 Trans Am & help me with mine. He doesn't have a ton left after paying Terry Spears thousands over the years to finish the car but my father has been able to put together a small $1000 reward for any information that would bring an arrest regarding this case OR a recovery of parts over $1000. If you or anyone you know has purchased a firebird shell or parts from Terry Spear since June 2013 PLEASE contact myself of Sergeant Michael Kash of the Columbia TN Police dpt at 931-982-0299

Thank you all very very much with anything you can do to help catch the person or persons behind this!!!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

oh man... what a crook!.. Ill keep an eye out in Atlanta.. but I hope you can find it..

that shop owner is a damn *******...

[cdoggy81]

You have no idea all the BS we have dealt with in dealing with this guy. If I ever get up to Fuller's shop again I'll fill you in over several beers.....

[reedld]

This truly sucks, I feel so bad for you and your father. Do you have the vin # and block ID numbers?

[minendrews68]

Is there any restitution from the shop? What did the law have to say about this? It seems like since it was on his property, he would be responsible. Bet a dollar to a dounut he knows exactly where it is..

[BonzoHansen]

No insurance, either ours or the shop?

That really sucks, I feel really bad for you. I bet the shop owner knows exactly what happened. The hobby is scattered with stories...

[lucky13firebird]

he parted the car out and you're being taken for a ride. Not advocating violence but some people will take what they can unless they're scared of you... ;-) Long story short make him pay what the car was worth when you gave it to him, not what its worth parted out when last pic was taken before it disappeared altogether. If not, then make it your job to not rest untill the entire pontiac community knows exactly what the guys practices are. "must've" stolen? The guy can't invest in a couple hundred dollar video system then he's just gonna have to take the loss and refund you the money out of pocket.

does his shop have a websight by any chance?

[cdoggy81]

reedld - The title (subsequently vin info) is in a safety deposit box at my Dads old bank in NC. I am trying to arrange to somehow get that info quickly. I will post it here as well as the Pontiac forums. I think that BC it is a numbers matching car I have 2 chances to catch the "person" who did this. The vin on the block & the vin on the shell. Other than that my other chance it to find several people who purchased 70-73 type parts off him from this time period to prove there is something going on there.

minendrews68 - restitution from the shop... You are kidding right? We all know what went on here... If you want to full decade long sob story about this guy feel free to PM me... He has been taking my father for a long ride.

BonzoHansen - No insurance on our end for a car going through a restoration that has been sitting in pieces :( As for the shop insurance we are looking into all legal actions that we can pursue.

Lucky13bird - as much as I agree with you it isn't that simple. I told my Dad for years to just cut his losses & when the economy turned around I would try to help him finish it. He didn't want me to help him (you all know how that goes) because he already paid so much money up front & then through the years to Terry that he would string him along just enough to give my father hope. You all have heard it before & it is terrible to the people it effects. The difference here is I am not going to stop until it gets resolved!
He has no website. Truth be told he has filed for bankruptcy on more than one occasion & move his restoration shop 4 times since he has had our car. We have hunted & followed him from Orlando FL (Terry's GTO shop) to Apopka FL to Pulaski TN (Spear's Performance) to Columbia TN. Do some searching on the Pontiac boards & you will find lots of info.

[Billetrides]

Unbelievable that someone would do this. Since the police will not do anything perhaps a private investigator would help. Hate for your Dad to spend more money but if you find someone good they might be able to dig up more information that could then be given to the police.

[NOT A TA]

I'll keep an eye out down here in South FL.

[Nicks67GTO]

That really sucks and sounds incredibly fishy?? Have you posted this on Performance years?

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

AND transamcountry.com

[mikidymac]

It is obvious this guy is not telling the truth. You even said he told the police that all the parts were in the car then says that it was only an empty shell.
Looks like you are going to have to sue him for the value although that will not get your car back. He will obviously lose the case as he is responsible for the car and can't just leave it outside off his property. He is the one responsible for it being stolen and has to pay for it unless you told him specifically to leave it out on the street because you were coming to get it after hours.

[octane speed shop]

was there any certain performance mods done to the 455 that might help ID if we saw an ad trying to sell it.

[cdoggy81]

Posted on PY, Laterial G, here & a few Trans Am clubs on Facebook. I need to join transamcountry.com & post there as well.

No real performance mods were done to it as my father wanted it to look original since it was a numbers matching car. The 455 did have a nice crane cam in it after being rebuilt & bored .30 over (which you could never prove unless someone told whoever bought it) & a HEI distributor (vs the original unitized unit) but it looked completely stock.

Good news is I pulled the VIN from the police report so be on the lookout for:
2V87Y3N141428

[Buryingthesun]

Id resort to violence



Thats the only option

[reedld]

Again, this is so bad...but I'd be willing to bet the items may already be sold. Google the guy's name and address...the bankruptcy story comes up. He's a crook and it's terrible that there are people out there who do this. He may be even reading this post... Transamcountry had a guy named jasonD (transamrestoration) who did this a few years back ( near me...located in northern PA).


I hope soooo many people read your post and stay on the lookout for your stuff.

Leon

[cdoggy81]

Ya, parts are easy to sell off the car. We knew something was up with the original carb went missing way back when he was in FL...
Only way we will get lucky is with someone knowing something about an engine, tranny or a shell (3 main things with a traceable VIN # on it) being sold within the last year out of his shop in TN.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Id resort to violence

Thats the only option

thats why at ANY time I got a couple homies that dont know how to act when a time like that comes around..

[RMMiller]

Sounds like there should be some jail time in his future.