A rare 1962 S3 Bentley was stolen in Wellington last week. There are only three of its kind in New Zealand, and the thief drove off with the vehicle wearing the owner's chauffeur hat.
The extremely rare hand-made Bentley was taken from the owner's vacant property on Mornington Road in Brooklyn. The car is no longer manufactured, and white ones like this are even rarer. The number plate for the vehicle is: 8NTLEY.
The owner, Matthew Ryan, says it's not the first time he's had a break-in at his property. Just last month, the lock on his free-standing garage was broken and the wheels from his BMW were stolen. Ryan believes the same thieves returned last week to see if he had replaced the stolen wheels, as they broke the lock into the same garage again.
But, after finding no wheels, they took off with his Bentley instead.
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The Bentley was kept in a separate garage underneath his house, and the thieves used a crowbar to break into it.
[They] made a hell of a mess of the garage door," says Ryan.
Three witnesses say they saw a man wearing a chauffeur hat and driving a Bentley in the early morning down Ohiro Road, which isn't something you see every day.
Security footage shows a silver station wagon approached the property at around 5.30am on Tuesday morning, which then follows the Bentley driving away from the house an hour later.
A police spokesperson has confirmed that inquiries into the theft are being made.
Ryan is offering a $20,000 reward to bring his car home, which he says has a lot of sentimental value to him. The car has been used in a lot of friends' weddings, and has many memories attached to it.
"It's near impossible to replicate," Ryan says.