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The Million-Dollar Car Detective
- Author
- Stayton Bonner
- Narrator
- Ari Fliakos
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 25 October 2025
- Run Time
- 6 hours 58 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
What to expect
A stolen car worth $7 million. A broke private investigator. Best friends turned worst enemies.
And the global manhunt neither saw coming.
In 2001, thieves parked a box truck in front of an aging tycoon’s factory, cut the phone lines, and used an overhead crane to lift out their prize: a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop coupe—“the most beautiful car in the world” and one of only two in existence—then they disappeared into the night.
The tycoon died. The trail went cold. End of story.
Until it wasn’t.
In 2015, Joe Ford was a PI trying to scrape together enough money to help his daughter, who suffers from a disease causing her to go blind, when he got a tip.
A mechanic in the French Alps had been burned by a thief and had a secret to share: the location of the missing Talbot-Lago.
The reward for finding the car would mean Joe could not only save his daughter’s sight but also set his family up for life.
Using skills gleaned from his mentor Chris Gardner, who taught Joe everything he knew about the business of rare luxury cars, the investigation would span a decade and involve the FBI, Interpol, a global crime ring … and a shocking betrayal.
Elite racing machines, high-end thefts, and billionaires who will stop at nothing for a moment of glory—The Million-Dollar Car Detective is unlike any heist story ever told.
Critics Review
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“Stayton Bonner has a knack for unearthing sleek stories from the margins of American society that reveal whole subcultures few of us knew existed. I immensely enjoyed this tale of rolling Rembrandts and petroleum-fueled Picassos. In brisk, clean prose reminiscent of Chandler and Hammett, Bonner takes us into a noir world of heists and intrigues, of fast cars and fast living—and, in doing so, pierces the wild, weird heart of human obsession.”
Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Hellhound on His Trail and The Wide Wide Sea
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“Stayton Bonner has written one hell of a terrific true-life thriller. Filled with offbeat characters, wonderful locations, and exciting twists driven by American ambition and greed, I devoured this book. Toss aside your same old podcasts and routine mysteries for an addictive tale that fires on all cylinders and doesn’t let go until that final page.”
Ace Atkins, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let the Devil Ride and Everybody Wants to Rule the World
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“An electrifying true-crime book that possesses the hallmarks of a Catch Me if You Can, incorporating elements of Drive. Author Stayton Bonner deftly relates the particulars of the story in a succinct but thorough way, profiling both adversaries and their battle both in and out of the courtroom.”
Booklist
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“Reads like an amazing combination of The Fast and the Furious and John Wick.”
Don Winslow
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Stayton Bonner
- Narrator
- Ari Fliakos
- Duration
- 6 hours 58 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 October 2025
- ISBN
- 9781982649364
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- True crime, Road and motor vehicles: general interest, Antiques, vintage and collectables, Antiques, vintage and collectables, Transport: general interest, Road and motor vehicles: general interest, Care and restoration of antiques
Synopsis
A stolen car worth $7 million. A broke private investigator. Best friends turned worst enemies. And the global manhunt neither saw coming.In 2001, thieves parked a box truck in front of an aging tycoon’s factory, cut the phone lines, and used an overhead crane to lift out their prize: a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop coupe—“the most beautiful car in the world” and one of only two in existence—then they disappeared into the night.The tycoon died. The trail went cold. End of story.Until it wasn’t.In 2015, Joe Ford was a PI trying to scrape together enough money to help his daughter, who suffers from a disease causing her to go blind, when he got a tip.A mechanic in the French Alps had been burned by a thief and had a secret to share: the location of the missing Talbot-Lago. The reward for finding the car would mean Joe could not only save his daughter’s sight but also set his family up for life.Using skills gleaned from his mentor Chris Gardner, who taught Joe everything he knew about the business of rare luxury cars, the investigation would span a decade and involve the FBI, Interpol, a global crime ring … and a shocking betrayal.Elite racing machines, high-end thefts, and billionaires who will stop at nothing for a moment of glory—The Million-Dollar Car Detective is unlike any heist story ever told.
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