When someone stole "Speedy" Bob Nevins' one-of a-kind dragster, they took a piece of his heart.
Nevins, a longtime race-car driver, discovered Monday that his 1933 Willys Gasser replica had been stolen when he went to check on it, as he routinely did, at the Pima County Fair Grounds.
The race car, which he said was worth more than $65,000, had been taken out of a trailer that was stored at the Southwestern International Raceway.
The trailer was locked, but it did not deter the thief, who picked the lock, Nevins said.
"When I opened the trailer door, I couldn't believe it," Nevins said from his East Side home Wednesday night.
Nevins called Pima County sheriff's deputies, who came out to the scene, he said.
The "Speedy Willys 2," as Nevins affectionately calls it, was a project that he started with his son five years ago.
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"It took us three years to complete, but it was like a refuge for Bobby and me to get away from my wife and daughters," he said jokingly.
The car would soon be well-known across the country thanks to posters of the car, photos in magazines, promotional items and a toy replica.
"Everyone who saw it loved it," he said. "It was like my kid. Someone took my kid and now I am willing to pay the ransom.
"It is a one-of-a-kind car and it can't be replaced; it has too much sentimental value."
The car's sentimental value reaches beyond the Nevins family who put so much time into it.
Nevins often took the car to schools, hospitals and other venues where special-needs children would get their pictures taken in it. "We would take the car out and it would just make those kids' day," he said. "Someone has stolen that opportunity."
He is offering a reward of at least $5,000 for the return of the car. "If you want to return the car, just leave it in a safe place and call me," Nevins said. "I'll mail you the reward. I just want the car back."
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Bob Nevins asks that anyone with information about his stolen car call him at 298-6919.
