Fears Cardrona's mystery bra fence thief might have graduated from stealing bras to taking cars were allayed by the valley's publican this week.
Cardrona Hotel co-owner Cade Thornton has been inundated with inquiries from ''panicked'' patrons and passers-by about the whereabouts of the village's well-known vintage vehicle, which had been parked outside the front of the pub for 12 years but disappeared a few days ago.
''It's created quite a stir. A lot of people are passionate about the old car ... it's sort of the focal point for people to stand around or next to for the photograph that everyone has outside the hotel.''
However, the disappearance of the 1928 Chrysler Model 62 was nothing sinister and only a temporary situation, Mr Thornton assured.
''It's going back, so never fear.''
The car was shifted at the weekend ''in a cloak of darkness'' to make room for the vehicles used by competitors in the Targa South Island rally which had passed through Cardrona.
The rally had also presented an opportunity to carry out some much-needed restoration work on the well-known car, which had fallen into a bad state of repair because of
the seasonal extreme weather of the Cardrona Valley.
Mr Thornton said since the car's departure, several motorists travelling on the Crown Range road between Queenstown and Wanaka had stopped by the pub to exclaim: ''Oh my god, the car's gone!''His girlfriend had been quizzed by her Wanaka workmates, tourists had asked to see the car and a bride had called from Australia distressed about the impact the car's absence would have on the photographs of her wedding celebrations to be held at the hotel.
The Chrysler was fully restored in the early 1990s and bought a decade later by the previous hotel owners from Cardrona Valley farmer Tim Scurr, who had owned it for about five years.
It was last driven in about 2006 and was fully registered and warranted until about that time.
Despite still being ''pretty good mechanically'', it does not run at present and had required four hotel staff to push it from its prominent post.
It was now taking time out from the public eye in a garage in Cardrona and would most likely be back in front of the hotel before Christmas.
''We are not going to get it road-going but we're going to put a new roof on it and tidy up some chrome ... just make it look a lot tidier,'' Mr Thornton said.
''One day we hope to fully restore it again as it is still in relatively good condition for its age.''
