Dream Cruise Nightmare: Classic 1965 Corvette Stingray Stolen

The Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise last weekend was a nightmare for a Rochester Hills couple, who said their classic 1965 Corvette Stingray convertible was stolen from a spot in Birmingham.

Gordon and Arlene Ondrisek had planned to save the car and give it to their 4-year-old grandson at some point in the future. Now, with each passing hour that the collector car isn’t found, the couple become less optimistic the car they’ve carefully maintained for the past 15 years will be returned intact, The Oakland Press reports.

“I’ve been nauseous all weekend,” Arlene Ondrisek said. “I know it’s a material thing, but it becomes part of you.”

The Ondriseks met friends for dinner Saturday after parking the collector car in the vicinity of Willits and North Old Woodward. When they returned an hour later, the car was gone, The Oakland Press reports.

The mint condition ‘Vette has won citations, including a first-place trophy in the 2002 Carnival of Cars in downtown Rochester. The Ondriseks are frequent participants in the annual Dream Cruises and have never had a problem before this year, the newspaper said.

Birmingham police have no leads about the whereabouts of the car, and Gordon Ondrisek said he’s afraid the car, which was valued at $60,000 when last appraised, is being stripped for parts.

Birmingham Police Lt. Detective Chris Busen said the city hasn’t reported a vehicle stolen during the Cruise since 2009.

Now, the Ondriseks have to break the news to their grandson that the car he loved to pretend he was driving may never sit in his driveway.

“He’s too young to grasp the concept of a theft, but he will ask ‘where is the car?’ ” Gordon Ondrisek said.