‘It’s one of our iconic cars’: Owner of classic car stolen in Grand Strand asking for help

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - John Hotchkins was in the Grand Strand for the Run to the Sun Car and Truck show like hundreds of other car lovers except he didn’t return home with his classic car.

“It was a real tough loss for us. This is one of our iconic cars and we were having such a great time in Myrtle Beach then all of a sudden things turned terrible,” said Hotchkins.

Hotchkins said someone took off with his Ford pickup truck and trailer carrying his classic yellow Dodge Challenger from the Fairfield Marriott where he was staying.

He said he’s had the Challenger for more than a decade, and it’s an extremely popular car that’s been featured in magazines, driven by celebrities and even had a hot wheels version of it made.

Hotchkins said he hopes the classic car can be found before it’s too late.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t get put on a boat and sent somewhere else because the car is so popular. It’s so well known. There’s a number of people that built cars because of this car,” said Hotchkins.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department said the vehicles were last seen between 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday. The vehicles’ licenses plates are also listed below:

• White Ford 2001 F350 Super Duty: North Carolina tag NZ3913
• White 22-foot Haulmark enclose trailer: North Carolina tag GYB442
• Yellow 1970 Dodge Challenger: California tag 6EML501

The police department said the incident is an active investigation and the vehicles have been placed into the national crime information center to help track them down.

Anyone with information is asked to call the MBPD at 843-918-1382.

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