Luxury cars stolen on the Gold Coast: The city’s fascinating relationship with expensive cars
The theft of a Porsche adds another chapter to the Gold Coast’s fascinating relationship with luxury cars. Here are the times when the expensive vehicles were at the centre of high drama. FULL LIST OF CASES >>>
Police & Courts
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THE recent theft of a Porsche on the Gold Coast adds another chapter to the city’s fascinating relationship with luxury cars.
Revisit the cases when the expensive vehicles were at the centre of high drama.
SEPTEMBER 9, 1984
DOZENS of Queensland people have had cars seized by police investigating multi-million-dollar stolen car rackets.
The rackets have taken advantage of the state’s car registration system.
Police said they expected to check many more cars after leads uncovered in an 18-month secret investigation involving police in the auto squads of Queensland and New South Wales.
More than 50 cars, allegedly stolen in New South Wales, have been recovered. Most of the cars were sold on the Gold Coast.
Police said many of the cars had been sold for cash. Deals were often made in hotel bars.
But police discount a Sydney report that a single “Mr Big’’, living on the Gold Coast, was the overseer of one multi-million-dollar stolen car operation.
“Surfers Paradise is an obvious spot to get rid of a 'hot' car,” Det. Sen.-Sgt Pat McCaul, head of the Queensland police auto squad, said.
“There is an awful lot of black money floating around the Coast.’’
NOVEMBER 9, 1990
A CON MAN on the run for two years after breaking out of a New South Wales jail stole a $200,000 Porsche from a new-car dealer after posing as an executive of Mr Kerry Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press.
Colin Hedley Hunt raced off in the 911 Carrera 2 Coupe after persuading a salesman to let him test it.
The red-faced salesman raised the alarm the next day when Hunt failed to return.
Police said Hunt, then 47, spent a week phoning the dealer pretending to be an ACP executive. He then arranged for a salesman to meet him at ACP’s city carpark so he could inspect the car.
He persuaded the salesman to let him test-drive it, and promised to return it the next day.
Detectives say the theft bore the hallmark of a typical Hunt sting.
When he broke out of Berrima Prison in the NSW southern highlands in 1988 he was serving seven years for abduction with carnal intent of a young woman, and with fraud and dishonesty. He was arrested a month later on the Gold Coast but he escaped again.
Detective Constable Howard Glumley of the northern region crime squad said: “People who know him say he is well spoken and very easily believed.”
After years on the run in 1993 Hunt was sentenced to five years’ jail after pleading guilty in the Sydney District Court to false pretences and larcenies involving about $400,000 between 1986 and 1992.
The judge imposed a non-parole period of 21/2 years, warning the sentence would have been longer if he had not pleaded guilty.
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MAY 4, 1997
THE theft of two rare and valuable older-model cars on the Gold Coast has left police baffled and the luxury automobile industry scratching its head.
The two Rolls-Royce vehicles stolen would be almost impossible to sell. They would have little other value to thieves, even if they were stripped for spare parts, according to luxury motor dealers.
The 1974 models are estimated to be worth $35,000 each. There are about 90 Rolls registered to Gold Coast owners.
Police were reluctant to discuss the thefts or release details of the locations from where the cars were stolen, but insiders say they have little chance of tracing any parts from the vehicles.
A luxury car industry figure, who did not wish to be named, said it was unlikely the vehicles were stolen by joyriders or professional thieves because “they would stick out like sore thumbs’’.
“There’s no way the parts could be sold and it would be difficult for anyone to just drive the cars around,’’ he said. “I can’t understand why anyone would want to pinch them.’’
Police officers attached to the auto theft squad Project Heat have warned motorists to be vigilant after the release of figures showing May is traditionally the worst month for vehicle theft.
AUGUST 9, 1998
GOLD Coast police were searching for the driver of a stolen luxury car which caused traffic havoc before eluding squad cars.
The Ford Capri convertible was spotted several times in the Southport area and at one stage was involved in a high-speed chase before escaping police.
“He left me like a scalded cat,’’ one policeman said.
The navy blue car, believed to have been stolen from the Runaway Bay area, was first spotted about 6pm driving at high speed with a shattered windscreen in the Southport area.
Police estimated the stolen vehicle was travelling at speeds of up to 140km/h. It was believed to be trailing a large quantity of grass after driving through vacant bushland.
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FEBRUARY 8, 2013
A DRUGGED driver has been jailed for leading police on a wild two-hour chase in a stolen yellow Porsche, reaching speeds of up to 130km/h.
Craig Allan Jones, now 25, was sentenced in Southport District Court to three and a half years prison for dangerous driving and unlawful use of stolen cars but will be eligible for parole in September after time already served.
The court was told Jones led police on a high-speed chase on August 25, 2011, after he was spotted driving a stolen black Mazda while disqualified.
He raced past William Duncan State School nearly hitting a lollipop lady. Police were forced to abandon the chase when Jones drove on the wrong side of the road.
Less than three weeks later a senior police officer saw Jones driving along Bridgman Dr, Reedy Creek, in a stolen yellow Porsche Boxster worth $60,000.
Jones sped off, prompting a chase that covered more than 30km from Burleigh Waters along Tallebudgera Creek Rd and Golden Valley Rd, at speeds of up to 130km/h.
Judge Katherine McGinness said Jones was affected by amphetamines during that chase.
“You drove up to 130km/h, using bike lanes, narrowly avoiding parked cars, forcing the vehicle between traffic causing road users to take evasive action and driving through red lights before crashing it a number of times,’’ she said
“The nature of your driving had no regard for the safety of others.’’
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
POLICE are trying to locate a rare Porsche stolen from a Helensvale home.
The black 2010 Porsche Panamera was stolen during a burglary on August 27 or August 28.
The sports style vehicle is bearing Queensland Registration plates RMV77 and is one of a few in Queensland.
The vehicle is worth between $75,000 and $174,000 wholesale price.
FEBRUARY 2, 2017
A PORSCHE stolen from Nerang was found at Strathpine after a man was tracked by police helicopter driving the vehicle in the north Brisbane suburb.
The car was originally spotted by police after driving into a residential yard on Anzac Ave at Kallangur.
When the driver was confronted by officers he allegedly drove the car directly at police, narrowly missing them.
Police saw the Porsche south on the Bruce Hwy through Murrumba Downs about 11.15pm but they were unable to intercept the vehicle.
The car was tracked by Polair to Bald Hills before tyre spikes were used to slow the car on Gympie Rd, Strathpine.
The male driver fled from the car and was tracked by the police dog squad.
APRIL 29, 2020
STUNNING footage has shown the moment police stopped an allegedly stolen Porsche which sped away from them on the Gold Coast.
Officers observed the Porsche Macan on the Gold Coast and tried to intercept it when the driver allegedly accelerated north on the Pacific Motorway.
The vehicle was next seen by officers patrolling in Beenleigh a short time later and a tyre deflation device was deployed with the Porsche continuing to travel northbound.
Shortly before 9pm officers intercepted the car on Loganlea Road at Loganlea.
FEBRUARY 4, 2021
POLICE seized almost $1 million worth of luxury cars as part of a series of raids by the Gold Coast organised crime squad.
Detectives from the Gold Coast Major and Organised Crime Squad (MOCS) searched two locations, a Bundall residence and a Burleigh Heads business, and seized three luxury cars.
A 2020 RS6 valued at $260,000 and a 2019 BMW X7 valued at $160,000 were discovered at the Bundall home.
Another $290,000 2020 Audi RSQ8 was seized at the Burleigh business.
MAY 26, 2021
A GRANDFATHER says his prized luxury SUV was nabbed from his driveway after thieves broke into his home and stole the keys less than a week after he moved to the Gold Coast.
James Billington, 77, told the Bulletin the crooks somehow accessed his Bundall home through a garage roller door early Sunday morning, snatched the keys to a distinctive 2015 Porsche Macan (NSW plates CZX 56S) and made off with his wife’s handbag.
He said the culprits “tried to access $7000 from one of her accounts from Amsterdam and San Jose”, but were foiled by bank security measures.
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