It took 15 years and nearly a quarter million dollars for Nick Suckow to have his 1968 dodge charger fully restored into his dream car. Yet it took thieves a brief opportunity and a trailer to swipe Suckows car from his garage in rural barron county wisconsin. Now all that Suckow, 41, has left of his car, which he bought in 1984, are the keys. Suckow, who was paralyzed from the chin down in a traffic accident in 1989 and cannot drive, is asking those who took his car to either return it or let it be found. "I hope they have a change of heart and can bring it back in one piece," he said. "I hope they realize that its my dream car". Suckow last saw his car last thursday when he left his house in Dallas, Wisconsin, with his two in-home nurses to play in a Texas hold 'em poker tournament in Las Vegas. He earned a spot in the tournament by taking first place at a bay near Ridgeland, Wisconsin. Suckow learned his car had been stolen when his high school freind, Dave Matthys, called him as he was on the road home. "At first I thought he was joking", said Suckow, who had finished 22nd out of 252 players at the poker tournament. Suckow said Matthys lives on a mobile home on his property and that he gave his freind the keys to the house so he could periodically check on it. On tuesday, Matthys went inside to turn up the heat and saw the car was gone. Matthys reported the theft right away, Suckow said. When Suckow returned home about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday and saw his empty garage, he "felt a serious feeling of loss, just dumbfounded." Detective Jeff Nelson of the Barron county sheriffs department would not say how the thieves entered the garage because the case is still under investigation. Nelson said evidence shows the car was driven onto a trailer. "The car was licensed and operable for the roadway, but because it has an extremely loud exhaust, its highly unlikely it was driven away," Nelson said. No arrests have been made, Nelson said, adding "any tips would be appreciated." Suckow said the car is insured for up to $230,000. He is still unsure how the thieves got into his attatched garage, where the car was behind a glass partition. He said there are no signs of entry to the garage. He can only speculate. "There is a back door on the garage and we are trying to figure out if it was locked or not," Suckow said. "It has a cat door on it, and I'm not sure if they reached up and came in that way or what. But that's all speculation." Once inside the garage, the thieves cut several padlocks and smashed the glass partition to get to the car, Suckow said. Suckow paid $1500 for the car when he was a junior at Barron high school. When he enlisted in the army after graduation, he put it in storage. "I always had plans in refinishing it up," he said. In 1989, Suckow took a leave from the army to get married. While driving back to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he was stationed, Suckows ford bronco hit a pothole, which snapped a tie-rod and sent him into a ditch. The crash left him paralyzed. Suckow said he didn't think much about his car until moving back home in 1991. A year later, he took the car to Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Over the next 15 years, Suckow forked over about $12,000 each year, money he earned by designing Web sites and selling motorcycle accessories on the Internet. "I paid as I could afford it," said Suckow, who draws veterans disability compensation. In spring 2007, Suckow's car was delivered to his home. "There hasn't been a car show that I haven't took a trophy home from," he said. The car was featured in the november 2007 issue of Mopar Muscle magazine. John Balow, owner of Muscle Car Restorations, said the car came in as a "rust bucket" and that his crew spent more than 2700 hours restoring it from top to bottom. It features a 426 electronic fuel injected hemi engine, hemi four speed transmission, hand built exhaust, and custom purple paint job. "Its off the charts," Balow said. Balow said he feels for Suckow. "I know what that car meant to him," he said."It was his lifelong dream, and he had it in his possession for years." Suckow fears the worst for his car. "I wonder if it hasn't been parted out already," he said. "Its so obvious that nobody could drive it down the street without it being found."

If you see this car contact author of article-

That's a SWEET car, too bad about it.

Damn, that just sucks...I'll keep an eye out, but as was said it is doubtful it will be driven much less as far as Illinois. None the less, keeping my eye out...that is one hell of a loss.

Isnt that the car you were working on the other day???

Chop shops are a mofo. Tear down a work of art for interchangeable parts of nothingness. That car, I'd wager, is in many vehicles on highways throughout America today. Just the reality of it all.

Nick Suckow is a nice guy. Never hurt anyone. This car was his dream come true. It was a showstopper. I've seen the car in person and talked with Nick. Its pretty sad that someone would steal a decorated veteran parapalegics car. Its his life.

...No. But cars exactly like them. My freinds collect 68/69 chargers. They are heartbroken for Nick and we are all putting the word out to find this car. Thank you.

Well if his car isnt found.......a collection would be nice, and maybe an old charger for him to fix again?>???? I know its not the same but....????

His place is only about an hour and a half drive away from me. If I should happen to see it or hear about it in my area, I'll give somebody a heads-up.

Thank you. The more we get the word out, the harder it is to fence or chop this car. When you have everyone from the hells angels to the actor who plays the burger king looking for it, it becomes harder for them to get rid of the car. Let's find these scumbags.

...the words out on that too gypsy. Among collector freinds.

what's that allstate guy say,

Are you covered,

why would he have a car like that,

just sittin somewhere, to begin with common,

like sittin couple stacks in the middle of the mall and saying don't touch this i'll be right back,

I feel this guy's pain....I'm a Dodge boy myself.

...you obviously didn't read the article. They went to great lengths and They busted many locks and a giant glass case to get to and steal this car.

Find this car.

I have sniffed way too many farts tonight to beable to focus on that fkn huge paragraph

Car thieves in Wisconsin, aye? I'm taking the keys off my '93 Neon's passenger seat and bringing them into the hooose.

Thank you