A rare vintage Porsche worth £500,000 has been stolen from an underground car park in Pimlico, Central London.
The car’s owner, businessman, racing driver and classic car dealer David Clark, discovered on Saturday that his light yellow 1973 Porsche Carrera RS 2.7 Touring, one of just 1,580 ever built, had vanished.
It is unknown exactly when the theft actually took place as Clark had been abroad for several weeks with his Jota Sport racing team, but the police are in possession of CCTV from the car park and are currently searching for footage of the moment the crime was committed.
Clark told MSN Cars: “I don’t know when it went missing. I last saw it several weeks ago, because I’ve been away doing races and other bits around the world.”
Clark estimated that his car is worth upwards of £500,000, though similar examples have sold for more than £600,000 at auctions in recent times.
According to Clark, the Porsche, which he described as ‘‘a really, really lovely car,’’ was purchased for his driving pleasure rather than as an investment.
He believes the thieves knew the significance of the car, after conversations with friends in the industry.
“I’ve asked around, and the consensus is it was likely stolen to order,” he said.
“I think these people are pros. One guy I spoke to knows all about this and he said it was probably a professional thing and that I had no chance. They’re just too good, whether it was an hour, a day, a week or more.”
Clark, a successful businessman in many areas including aviation and motorsport, has owned the Taylor & Crawley classic car dealership for more than 30 years.
Clark is an avid historic racer, with iconic cars such as the (recently sold) McLaren F1 GTR and Aston Martin DP214 in his collection. In addition, he was a director at McLaren from 1994-1998.
The Porsche’s number plate is VOY 356L, with the chassis number 9113601175. As per a Silverstone Auctions listing of the car from a previous ownership, the engine number is 6631147. As the car was initially sold in Germany, it is left-hand drive.
Clark has said that a reward will be granted to anyone who can help him track down his beloved Porsche.