The theft of a £10,000 sports car from a Tayside dealer may have been the work of a professional gang, according to the garage owner.
Gordon Leslie, who owns and runs Carnoustie Sports Cars, initially believed the black BMW M3 coupe had been lifted out of the grounds of his dealership with a crane and loaded on to a flatbed truck.
Both keys were still in his safe and the immobiliser had been activated.
The car was later recovered by police in the Edinburgh area and held at 911 Recovery’s compound in the capital.
However, Gordon has since learned that the car — which he picked up on Wednesday — was unlocked and driven out of the dealership without the use of a key.
He said: “It looks like they got into the car with a key replicator of some kind and used a laptop to overcome the immobiliser.
“The police had the car being driven away on CCTV but they couldn’t see the driver because it was so dark.”
He added: “The 911 Recovery compound had 30 other cars which had been stolen in a similar fashion.
“They do a lot of work with the police, and judging by what they told me, a gang may have been responsible.”
Gordon plans to fit the car with new locks before putting it back on sale but he said he remained worried about what thieves could do without a key.
“This was a BMW M3, which has a very good system, but they got past it and just drove it away,” he said.
“If someone wants your car they can just take it. It used to be they had to break into your house and take your keys, but not any more.
“There’s a good chance that there’s a bigger story here than just my car — there are people out there who could come along and take your car and having a key is not a guarantee of it being secure.”
A manager at 911 Recovery said: “We wouldn’t give out any details of how a car was stolen. We do not discuss that.”
Police Scotland has been approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of going to press.