The owner of a $400,000 Ford Mustang is pleading for the public to keep their eyes peeled after it was stolen before he could even take it for a drive.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR was pinched from Mustang Motorsport at Ferntree Gully in Melbourne's southeast on October 11.
It is the only one of its kind in Australia and one of 24 across the globe.
Two men were earlier captured on CCTV loitering out the front of the car specialist before one returned, entered the business and casually drove off in the rare and distinctive ride.
The charcoal Mustang was seen heading north towards the Burwood Highway but hasn't be sighted since.
"(It was) very opportunistic," Vehicle Crime Squad Detective Senior Constable Michael Gatt told reporters on Friday.
Very few of its parts can be swapped on to similar makes and models.
"Given the value and its rarity, I would expect that car to be kept intact in its total form," Det Sen Const Gatt said.
The Mustang's owner, Craig Dean, said he bought the car about five months ago following his retirement from tarmac rally racing after 23 years.
The former racer, who has also run the business since 1990, never got to drive the car, with final touches completed the same day it was stolen.
"It looks fast sitting still that thing so it's pretty devastating," he said.
His gutted business partner left the keys inside with the window down as he was moving cars into the showroom at the end of the day.
The 60-year-old got the call from him that the Mustang had been stolen while he was on holidays overseas.
He said footage showed the two men were scoping out the area for a couple of days and had tried to steal a locked Dodge Challenger from a nearby factory.
They stopped at a fast-food store on the Burwood Highway before the theft, with one reaching behind the counter and stealing a drink.
Investigators on Friday released CCTV footage of the wanted men, describing one as Caucasian and about 190cm tall and the other as Asian/Polynesian and about 160cm tall.
Det Gatt said people should not approach the stolen car if they saw it but instead contact a local police station or Crime Stoppers.
The Mustang could have travelled anywhere across Melbourne or interstate but police aren't giving up hope of reuniting it with Mr Dean, who had a message for the thief.
"I feel sorry for you, mate," Mr Dean said.
"What's to profit a man if he inherits the world but forfeits his soul?"
