Hot Wheels Classic: Ford Mustang among most stolen cars over decades

(January 31, 2012) DES PLAINES, Ill. — For over 25 years, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has published Hot Wheels, an annual report of America's 10 most stolen vehicles. While popular expectations have been that newer, more expensive vehicles would top the list, the data has repeatedly shown quite the opposite, with older, less flashy models topping the list.

As a take-off from our traditional Hot Wheels report, the NICB will periodically issue a special report — Hot Wheels Classics — focusing on a specific class of vehicle or make and model.  For the debut report, NICB selected the iconic Ford Mustang.

Since it was first introduced to the public at the 1964 New York World's Fair, nearly eight and a half million Mustangs have been sold, making it one of the most popular and enduring vehicles to ever grace a dealer's showroom.

Unfortunately, over the years many Mustang owners have had to deal with the theft of their pony cars.  Aside from the hassle of losing their transportation and all that entails, a Mustang loss can be overwhelming given that many owners form an emotional bond with their machines.  You would probably have to own one to understand that.

NICB reviewed Mustang theft data from 1964-2011 and identified 611,093 theft records. Although data for all years is available, confidence in pre-1981 records is low due to the inconsistency in reporting protocols and vehicle identification number (VIN) systems in use prior to 1981.

Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration required VIN standardization beginning with the 1981 model year, that year is the oldest reliable data used in this report. Data prior to 1981 is provided for information only.     

Overall, from 1981 through 2011, a total of 411,155 Mustangs were reported stolen. The most thefts occurred in 1981 (20,708) and the fewest in 2011 (4,347).

During the 30-year period from 1981-2011, a total of 4,110,110 Mustangs were sold in the United States.  However, over the Mustang's entire lifespan through the end of 2011, a total of 8,450,741 units have been sold in the United States.  The single year with the most U.S. sales was 1966 with 549,436. Conversely, 2009 logged the fewest Mustang sales reaching only 66,623 units.*

The following graph shows the top 10 most stolen Mustang model years for the period 2001-2011. Overall, a total of 91,152 Mustangs were stolen during this time frame; the top 10 listed below accounts for 45,421 thefts or 50 percent of all thefts during that period.

2001 – 2011 National Mustang Thefts

Model Year Most Stolen

Number of Thefts

2000

7085

1995

6790

1998

5394

2001

5103

2002

4226

2003

3966

1994

3949

2004

3234

1996

3045

1989

2629

Total

45,421