Ford Mustang

The 2000 model year Mustang is the most stolen model of the brand between 2001 and 2011.

Thieves hot for pony car

Every year, insurance bureaus release their most stolen vehicles lists with the thought that newer and/or more expensive vehicles are often the targets, but studies repeatedly show that older, less technologically advanced vehicles are more prone to thefts. But then there are the classics, such as the Ford Mustang.

The U.S.’ National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has begun to look at theft patterns of specific classes of vehicle, makes and models, and begins its series with the classic “pony car.”

Nearly eight and a half million Mustangs have been sold since the model’s introduction at the 1964 World’s Fair inNew York. At least 611,093 have been stolen (NICB says confidence in pre-1981 records is low due to inconsistent reporting protocols and vehicle identification numbers, or VINs). From 1981 through 2011, a total of 411,155 Mustangs were reported stolen with the most thefts reported in 1981 (20,708) and the fewest in 2011 (4,347).

In the past decade, 91,152 Mustangs were stolen with model year 2000 accounting for the most among those, with 7,085. Model year 1995 is ranked second (6,790), followed by 1998 (5,394), 2001 (5,103) and 2002 (4,226). Model years 2003, 1994, 2004, 1996 and 1989 round out the top ten.

Collectively, those years account for 45,421 thefts, or roughly 50% of total Mustang thefts from 2001-2011, with model years 2000 and 1995 topping the yearly list of most stolen Mustangs every year in the decade.

Tags: Ford, Mustang, theft