Car Mysteries That Are Still Mind-Boggling

Cars disappearing is nothing new: According to the latest statistics from Carsurance, a car is stolen in the United States every 43.8 seconds, leading to $6.4 billion in losses every year. On top of theft, there are plenty of cars that fall victim to natural disasters, get into accidents, or simply end up abandoned for one reason or another. However, it seems implausible that a car could simply vanish into thin air, never to be seen again, especially if it's a high-profile or desirable model. But, in rare cases, mysterious disappearances have been known to happen, and in many cases, the car in question has never been found again.

Every now and then, rumors resurface as to the whereabouts of these cars, and when they do, there's usually a group of historians and interested collectors trying to track them down. Mostly though, those rumors turn out to be just that: unsubstantiated claims that, although there might be some truth in them, don't lead anywhere. Even cars that would be worth millions of dollars have remained missing for decades, with their fates remaining a complete mystery despite the best efforts of automotive sleuths.

The Ferrari 375MM is one of the brand's most desirable 1950s race cars, with a total of 26 cars built. All but one of those has been accounted for, with only chassis number 0378AM remaining missing. This missing car is thought to be worth north of $10 million, and was originally sold to a friend of Enzo Ferrari's called Dottore Enrico Wax. Wax was a notable collector and reportedly owned many high-profile cars, but his 375MM has never been found, leading to speculation that it still lies abandoned somewhere in a garage in Italy.

If it was indeed abandoned or simply forgotten about by its owner, it would likely be in original condition, making it ripe for restoration. With a naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V12 making 340 horsepower, the car was one of the fastest road cars of its era, and each example received a coachbuilt body by the likes of Pinin Farina or Scaglietti. The 0378AM received a highly unusual metallic blue paint finish, with a beige interior, being the only 375MM with this color combination (via MotorBiscuit). If the car ever is found, and it's in original condition, it's likely to set new records for the model at auction.

One of the star cars of GM's 1954 Motorama show, the Chevrolet Corvette Nomad, or Waldorf Nomad as it became known, has a perplexing history. It disappeared shortly after its appearance in the show, and many assumed it had simply been scrapped, which GM was known to do with its one-offs at the time. However, a rumor later resurfaced about a Nomad stored in a warehouse in Newport Beach, CA. It was said the car was sold at some point to a private collector, although there's been no concrete evidence to back up this theory. To add to the confusion, David W. Temple, author of several books about GM's Motorama era, claimed in an Old Cars Weekly article that he had seen evidence of not one but three Nomads actually being built.

He found evidence that one of those three was scrapped in July 1955, but has also unearthed photos of an apparent second Nomad on display at the 1955 Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, held around six weeks after the first car was supposedly scrapped. If one of the cars made it up to Canada, there's a chance it could still survive, albeit in an unknown condition. The third of the three cars may well be the one that's alleged to have been found in Newport Beach, but until one of them makes a public appearance, it's impossible to know for certain.

[Featured image by Michael Hicks via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]

Unveiled at the 1956 Motorama, the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket encapsulated the Jet Age car design perfectly. With styling inspired by the fighter jets of the era, the car featured chrome "bumper bullets" at the front and rear bumpers that looked like space rockets (via Motor1.com). The car's tail fins were considered quite understated for the time, perhaps in an effort to draw onlookers' attention to its unique aerodynamic shape. As well as its futuristic exterior, the Golden Rocket also featured a number of cutting-edge interior innovations, including auto-rotating seats that allowed the driver and passenger to get in and out of the car with minimal effort.

It caused a stir at the 1956 Motorama show, but shortly after, the Golden Rocket seems to have simply vanished. It was common practice at the time for GM to scrap its concept cars after shows to reduce its insurance liability, but some rumors persist that GM's vice-president of design Harley Earl took the car to add to his sizable personal collection. There have been unconfirmed rumors of the car being spotted in the early '60s, with supposed photographic evidence, but nothing has led investigators and historians to any conclusive evidence that the car still exists.

While it started life as a '49 Mercury Coupe, the Bettencourt-Zupan was extensively worked on by a number of high-profile modifiers until it became more or less a unique one-off. It ended up in the hands of Dean Jeffries, the painter who had worked on James Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder, after the car's previous owner had died in an accident. It sat outside his shop until it was stolen one night in 1970, never to be seen again. Strangely, the Detroit Free Press reports, there were a few photos of the car that appear to have been taken after the theft, implying the thief didn't just joyride the car and crash it after a few hours.

If the car really did survive for years after it was stolen off Dean Jeffries' lot, there's a chance it could still be out there, albeit in a much more run-down condition than when the photos were taken. There have been no leads since then to suggest the car's whereabouts or current owner.

Ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power in 2014 after protests against his efforts to deepen his country's ties to Russia turned deadly, with pro-Russia troops opening fire on civilians and killing more than 100. He fled to the Russian city of Rostov, leaving behind the majority of his extensive car collection. However, Yanukovych appears to have brought with him one especially rare car from his fleet: a Horch 855 Spezial, valued at around $2 million at the time of its disappearance (via Autoweek).

Every car in his collection had an information placard next to it, and while the placard for the car was still there when journalists and activists gained access to the collection, the Horch itself had gone. It's thought to have been smuggled out of the country along with the president, but it's not clear whether it is still under his ownership, or where exactly it's being kept.

One of the most iconic James Bond movies of all time, "Goldfinger" transformed its star car, the Aston Martin DB5, into a household name. Four DB5s were used in the making of the film, but only one featured working gadgetry. That sole functional car was stolen from a private hangar in Baton Rouge Airport, Florida, in 1997. A report by Autocar suggested it was worth more than $20 million, but despite its value, it's never been "officially" found.

The word "officially" is important here, as a 2021 report by The Telegraph claimed the car is sitting in a large car collection somewhere in the Middle East, and that the current owner was not aware that it was stolen when they initially bought it. The claim was made by Christopher Marinello of Art Recovery International, and although Marinello hinted in the report that he had identified the owner, there has been no verifiable news of the car's recovery at the time of writing.

Although the sad reality is that most of these missing cars will never be seen again, there are a few times when a long-lost car has turned up after decades in obscurity. The only Maserati 5000GT Ghia ever built was thought to have disappeared after being sold to a mystery collector in Saudi Arabia and seemingly vanishing into thin air. However, decades after it was sold, it was found by the late owner's family, and rescued in the nick of time. It had been marked for the crusher, but thankfully it was brought inside to prevent further deterioration and went up for sale in its unrestored state in 2019 (via Hagerty).

It was sold at an RM Sotheby's auction for $533,000 (pictured above), with its owner presumably in the process of restoring the car at the time of writing. Hagerty spoke to an expert on the marque who said that restoration should be fairly straightforward as all the key parts were present, so let's hope to see this one-off Maserati back on the road soon.