Valuable Classic Car Nicked On Christmas Eve

A £100,000 classic car – which it's owner had spent eighteen months restoring – was stolen from his garage on Christmas Eve.

The car is a 1955 blue convertible Austin Healey that was built in 1955 and was a fiftieth birthday present for it's Chelsea owner Pascal Maeter.

It was parked at 2.00pm on December 24 and later that evening the owner found his garage had been forced open and the car taken.

Mr. Maeter said: “When I was given this car it had not been used for forty years.

“It looked good from twenty metres, but when you got up close you saw that it needed a great deal of work.

“It took me many months to get it back to being a beautiful and working machine.

“I really hope the public can help; it was not just an ordinary car to me! This was a much loved gift, one of a special production and restoring it was a labour of love.”

Detective Constable Joe de Vere of Kensington & Chelsea police said: “The car is very distinctive and extremely rare.

“This is the sort of car that people would notice and for that reason it has probably been stored off-road, but it will need to be moved eventually.

“I would ask the public to remember what it looks like and call police if they see it.”

Anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of the vehicle should contact Kensington and Chelsea police on 020 8246 0231.

Please quote reference number 5621651/14, or if the vehicle is seen, call 999.