Picked To The Bones: The Stolen Cars Of Detroit

These aren’t uncommon sights in the city.

About three weeks ago a popular Instagram account posted video of someone walking around a Dodge Challenger Hellcat that was stripped and dumped on a Detroit street. Many enthusiasts were shocked and horrified by the sight and some automotive sites featured it as some freak novelty. The only problem is such a thing is all too common in the Motor City. In fact, we’ve seen much worse.

Learn what muscle car can outrun anything the police throw at it here.

First off, that stripped Hellcat was found by someone back in early April, but that Instagram account with millions of followers made it go viral. Considering we’ve seen many examples of Hellcat and other Challengers/Chargers picked just as clean if not even beyond that, it was just another in a long line of examples.

Included with this article are some examples of Mopar muscle cars and other rides picked to the bone and abandoned throughout the Detroit metro area. Many have nothing of the interior or body panels left, making it impossible to tell what trims they were without running the VIN.

Then there are the vehicles which were picked clean and chopped down, either left in pieces or only one piece of the remnants of the frame left to sit like some pathetic modern art sculpture sitting as a tribute to modern Detroit culture.

People are freaking out about thieves taking that Hellcat’s engine. From what we know, if your engine is leftover after these criminals have their way with your ride, that’s actually an insult because it wasn’t worth the effort of picking.

Not every abandoned car on Detroit streets and abandoned lots have been picked to the bones. Some were obviously joyridden, crashed, then abandoned. After all, car thieves aren’t just in this for the money, they’re also looking to have some fun.

Before anyone says this is just a Detroit phenomenon, we’ve seen similar things in other cities, although it does seem to be more common there. In other areas thieves seem to be more careful about dumping the remnants of chopped cars and other municipalities are quicker about hauling them away quickly. It’s almost like having a bunch of stripped and chopped-up stolen cars sitting around your city sends a message about the state of crime in the area.