By Dean Larson

Photos: Screenshot from KCCI News

A carjacker in Iowa thought he’d gotten away with the perfect crime when he applied a quick matte black paint job to his latest score, a bright yellow CAV America GT40 replica. The only problem with that theory is of course that a GT40 tends to stick out in central Iowa, especially when you cruise it around the same town you stole it from.

Marshalltown, Iowa resident Steve Salasek has enjoyed the CAV GT for the last 13 years, calling it a dream car, but Salasek found himself in a nightmare when the GT went missing from his storage unit. His initial reaction was that he’d probably never see his GT again.

KCCI 8 News Des Moines reports that Marshalltown Police put out a message on their Facebook page to be on the lookout for the GT, promptly after the car was reported stolen. Within hours of the posting, several Marshalltown residents had responded, claiming that they had seen the car driving local streets in Marshalltown the past two days. Within one day of the Facebook posting, police located the GT cruising a local street and wearing a hastily applied coat of black spray paint.

The imbecile driving the CAV GT was arrested for theft and (not surprisingly) a host of drug charges and traffic offenses. Chief Tupper, Marshalltown PD, stated

"It was a very unique car and I feel pretty comfortable saying it was probably the only car like this in Marshall County, maybe in the central Iowa area.”

Chief Tupper also commented:

"If it hadn't been for the community's involvement and interest in this story, we probably would not have found the car.”