Anyone want a Pontiac Safari 6000?
We’ve seen plenty of cars pulled from lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water, but the muddy 1988 Pontiac Safari 6000 retrieved from the bottom of Colby lake in Woodbury, Minnesota is one of the least expected. After all, many of these sunken cars have been used to commit a crime, whether it’s robbing a bank or scamming the insurance company. The last thing you’d expect to see is a grocery getter from the late 80s, yet here we are.
Check out the car graveyard on the shore of Lake Michigan here.
According to a police, the station wagon was stolen from Inver Grove Heights back in 1994. They also claim the thing is red, not that you can tell in the picture they released to the public. Even more astounding is that a thief thought stealing such a vehicle was a good idea.
Obviously, the wagon wasn’t stolen to be chopped and sold, because that would’ve been completely silly. So that leaves the angle that it was stolen to commit a crime. Entertaining that idea, the smart thing would be to use a getaway vehicle that blends in yet offers at least pretty good performance, in case you need to make a run for it. Obviously, this doesn’t offer even decent performance, so either the thieves were idiots or something else is going on here.
That brings us to the conclusion we know some of you have already made: this could have been a case of insurance fraud. It’s certainly possible. From what police found, it seems like whoever sunk this car didn’t really know what they were doing. After all, the windows on one side of the car were rolled down, almost as if someone drove the wagon into the lake, then realized they had to get out, panicked, then rolled down the windows to get out of there.
It sounds like police are taken the situation seriously as they’re investigating along with the National Insurance Crime Bureau. They’re asking for the public’s help as they try to gather more information. As for that desirable 1988 Pontiac Safari 6000, it’s probably going to be held as evidence, so anyone who’s into collecting such fine automobiles will have to wait to have a shot at it.
Source: Twin Cities Pioneer Express
