Hotwired car had no engine

6:50PM Thursday August 07, 2008

Would-be thieves got a nasty shock when they tried to hotwire a stationwagon outside a Blenheim garage this week.

The garage owner had parked the car, which was in for some work, outside on Tuesday night because there was no room inside the shop.

The thieves smashed the lock to get in and then they started hotwiring the vehicle.

However, they then struck a small problem - it had no engine.

The garage owner told the Marlborough Express if the thieves had looked in the back of the stationwagon they would be seen they were wasting time because half the vehicle's engine was laid out there.