Beyond.ca - Car Forum Helps Catch GT-R Car Thief

When a thief made off with this 1991 Nissan Skyline GT-R during a test drive, car owner Shaun Ironside enlisted the help of fellow members of car forum Beyond.ca (Click To See the Original Thread Post)

James Lynch snapped this picture of Shaun Ironside’s stolen car — with the alleged thief behind the wheel — after reading about the theft on the website Beyond.ca.

The Specs: Full Greddy T78-33d Turbo Kit, HKS camshafts, A/M Computer, E-OI Display Controller, 300km/hr Speedo, N1 Headlights, Greddy Exhaust, Trust Intercooler, Zeal Adjustable Suspension, Panasport G7 17 inch Alloys

Shaun Ironside and friends used Beyond.ca (Calgary Car Forum), Facebook and Google Maps to take down what might be the world’s dumbest car thief dubbed “The Calgary Skyline GTR Lobster Claw Bandit” — and posted video of the arrest on YouTube.

The thief took the modified Nissan Skyline GT-R for a test drive in Calgary and never came back. The owner, Shaun Ironside, 27, called the cops but figured the car was headed for a chop shop, never to be seen again.

Desperate, Ironside posted a thread at Beyond.ca, an automotive discussion forum with 46,000 members. They’d nabbed a hit-and-run driver last year, so if anyone could find the car — or what might be left of it — they could stop the thief, Ironside thought.

“I had more confidence in the forum guys finding the car because I know how many of them there are, and they’re all car guys,” said Ironside. He owns Envision Auto, where the 1991 Nissan was stolen around 1:30 p.m. March 26.

The thief would be easy to spot, Ironside wrote in the post, because he’s missing the middle and right fingers of his left hand. The car was pretty unique too — a right-hand-drive model imported from Japan. The thread languished until the following afternoon when forum moderator James Lynch happened to spot the stolen Skyline and snapped a picture of the suspect behind the wheel — waving his disfigured hand.

“I pulled out my camera, but I wanted to see his hand, so I did the rock out sign,” Lynch, 22, told Wired.com, referring to the splayed finger gesture that’s ubiquitous at heavy metal concerts. “He did it back and I saw his hand. I rolled down my window and yelled, ‘Nice stolen car!’ He’s like, ‘It’s not stolen,’ ”

The suspect sped off in the turbocharged 400-horsepower car at more than 100 mph, almost running off the road in the process. “He’s a lousy driver,” said Lynch, who decided chasing him wouldn’t be wise. Instead, he called the police and posted the suspect’s picture at Beyond.ca.

Video: Stolen Calgary Skyline GTR Lobster Hand Thief Getting Arrested

[Source: Wired.com, Beyond.ca, EnvisionAuto.com]