A Dallas man says his custom classic car was stolen from a downtown apartment garage.
He hoped the thousands of dollars worth of work he put into the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro will be the key to its return.
"If anybody sees it, you can't miss it," James Choate said. "It was my baby."
Choate said he bought his dream car six years ago and, together with friends and family, slowly restored it.
"We took our time," he said. "Every little detail."
Choate said, in all, he put about $100,000 into the classic car.
On Dec. 1, Choate told Dallas police he had parked the silver Camaro in the garage at his friend's West End apartment building before leaving for Thanksgiving vacation.
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The apartment, located on Ross Avenue, has a secure entrance and security cameras.
Choate said he and his family returned the following week, and days later, realized the car was gone.
"If I had my choice to do it all over again I wouldn't have left it in a parking garage," he admitted.
Now he can only hope its unique touches will help bring it home.
Perhaps the most notable custom work on the car was to the door handles.
"It has what they call 'flush handles,' so you can't feel the handles. You press them in to open the door," he said.
There's the custom Impala interior, the black and silver rims and unique hood.
"It's what they call L88 hood," Choate said. "It's very different than what you would see on a normal Camaro."
It's a muscle car you can certainly hear coming, he said.
"It's got a very loud motor," Choate said. "It's what they call an LS3 hard performance motor with a very loud exhaust."
NBC 5 contacted the car impound company where the car would have been taken, had it been removed from the apartment complex.
A representative on the phone said no car with the given description was towed there.
Choate said some people have reached out recently indicating possible sightings in Dallas.
The license plate is KGZK4.
However, one person said they saw a similar car, but it had paper tags.
"A car can be replaced, but when you've had friends and family who've helped you build a car, and any car builder knows this, it's not about the money, it's about getting the car back," Choate said.
Choate said the car is insured.
