I’m not sure I want to live in a world where even the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile isn’t safe anymore. On Thursday, February 9, thieves snuck into the Sonesta Suites parking lot, on Paradise Road in Las Vegas, and cut out the Wienermobile’s catalytic converter. I get that cats are valuable but the Wienermobile? Is nothing sacred?
According to local CBS affiliate 8 News Now, the Wienermobile was set to make a 10 a.m. appearance, when its drivers noticed it wouldn’t start. So they towed it to a local Penske shop, whose mechanics were naturally pretty shocked to see the 27 foot (60 hot dogs) long Wienermobile sitting in one of the bays.
Thinking quickly, the Penske shop’s parts administrator Joseph Rodriguez and his crew were able to find a temporary catalytic converter that fit and rigged it to work. A real repair will have to wait, though, as it can take up to two months to get the exact catalytic converter needed for the Wienermobile’s 6.0-liter Chevy V8. However, that seems to be the case with any car. According to Rodriguez, catalytic converter theft has been a big problem in Nevada for years and there aren’t many signs of it slowing down. His crew was able to fix the giant fiberglass hot dog and get it back on the road in time for its appearance but the issue of stolen cats isn’t one that seems to be going away.
Catalytic converters have always been high value targets for Sawzall-wielding thieves but such theft has become a multi-million dollar enterprise over the past year or so. Back in November, feds busted a $545 million catalytic converter theft ring, which consisted of 21 people across five different states. Nevada was one such state but it seems the federal bust wasn’t enough to stop the Wienermobile from getting snipped.
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