It appealed to the public by releasing CCTV of the theft, something that months later paid dividends.
The team was recently contacted via its generic email address with a tip-off that the car was hidden behind a block of factories in Clayton, Victoria.
It was found badly damaged and missing the air jack system that had been installed, although was still fitted with the Supercars-spec wheels and tyres.
“It’s a rather bizarre story,” team owner Charlie Schwerkolt told Speedcafe.
“On the camera footage, which we put out to the media and everything, you can see someone taking the car. Weeks and weeks had gone past and we had someone go to our website and get our email address and they said, ‘hey, I think I know where your car is. It’s around the corner in Clayton. It’s just been dumped there’.
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“We sent Mitch Croke our team manager down there and sure enough it was there. The doors were gone, all the bits were off the whole thing, and it was just dumped there. It had been there for a while I think, hidden behind a block of factories.
“We brought it back on a tilt tray but it had been destroyed. It had been hit hard at the rear and they had been doing burnouts in it, which is pretty impressive for a V6 Commodore. They gave it a really hard time, the poor thing, there wasn’t much left of it.”
The car was recovered shortly after the team had finished the build of a new pit stop practice car. That means the stolen car is now destined for scrap.
“In the interim we’ve purchased a new pit stop car and put all of the bits into it, so the old one is going to heaven,” Schwerkolt added.
Before Team 18 retrieved the stolen car there was a full police investigation, however as it stands both authorities and the team are none the wiser as to the identities of the thieves.
“We called the police and they investigated it,” said Schwerkolt. “They did fingerprints and couldn’t find anything.
“Unfortunately whoever took it knew what they were doing. I still find the whole thing bizarre…”
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