--- title: This Car Thief's Shoddy Paint Job Failed to Cover His Crimes description: A man was arrested after stealing a car that he attempted to disguise with a quick paint job, although onlookers saw right through it. canonical: https://time.com/4885705/car-thief-paint-job/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-03T16:04:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:07.488Z og:title: This Car Thief's Shoddy Paint Job Failed to Cover His Crimes og:description: A swift color change didn't manage to disguise the stolen vehicle og:url: https://time.com/4885705/car-thief-paint-job/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5091b204192c092/6988d84c8fd2eefb3d35846a/1966-ford-gt40.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5669 og:image:height: 3189 og:image:alt: 1966 Ford GT40 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Car Thief's Shoddy Paint Job Failed to Cover His Crimes twitter:description: A swift color change didn't manage to disguise the stolen vehicle twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5091b204192c092/6988d84c8fd2eefb3d35846a/1966-ford-gt40.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eager Car Thief's Spray Paint Job Fails to Cover Up Crime > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=bd63d1b7-d243-4718-b151-dcd08996012b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 3, 2017 4:04 PM UTC  1966 Ford GT40\. Artist: Unknown. (Photo by National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images) 1966 Ford GT40\. Artist: Unknown. (Photo by National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images) Heritage Images—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 3, 2017 4:04 PM UTC Looks can be deceiving — but maybe not _that_ deceiving. In the case of a stolen 1966 [Ford](http://time.com/4714859/trump-ford-michigan-job-annoucement/) GT40 replica, the thief’s attempt to disguise the vehicle with a quick spray paint job in a matte black shade failed to fool onlookers, who noted the race car’s original color peeking through. The result? The thief was arrested and the car returned to its original owner. [According to local news](https://www.upi.com/Odd%5FNews/2017/08/02/Thief-used-crude-paint-job-to-disguise-rare-stolen-car/6021501699296/), Steve Salasek of Marshalltown, Iowa found his distinctive classic car missing from his garage when he attempted to take it out last Tuesday. Luckily, local residents kept a sharp eye out and managed to spot it for police after noticing its original yellow paint beneath the black coat, according to police chief Michael Tupper. But beyond the tell-tale paint job, the car itself had a claim to fame in the area. “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,” Tupper said. (An original 1968 GT40 [sold for a whopping $11 million](http://www.chron.com/cars/article/Ford-GT40-sells-for-record-setting-price-for-U-S-3800649.php) in Texas in 2012, setting a record for a U.S. car; even replicas like this one [are worth](http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1966/Ford/GT40-Mark-I/2-Door-Coupe/Values) hundreds of thousands of dollars, [if not more](https://www.hagerty.com/apps/valuationtools/1966-ford-gt40-mk%5Fi%5Froad).) Patrick Allen Chamberlain was arrested ultimately charged with theft — plus controlled substance possession and traffic offenses. 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