Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Has Its Catalytic Converter Stolen

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile may be massive and impossible to miss, but one thing it's not is immune to thieves. The 27-foot-long vehicle's catalytic converter was stolen while the hot dog on wheels was parked outside a Las Vegas motel, Fox 5 Vegas reports. The Wienermobile was in the city for a number of Super Bowl weekend events, and the theft took place sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, KLAS reports. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop, where workers installed a temporary catalytic converter, and the Wienermobile was able to able to make it to its planned stops.

"A hot dog truck, no way," says the parts administrator for the Penske Trucks location where the Wienermobile was towed. "Imagine like a huge hot dog in the middle of your bay. There’s all these other trucks and you got to work on this." He says it will take one to two months for the exact part needed to be ordered, but workers were able to find a catalytic converter that worked well enough as a temporary fix. The Wienermobile that was affected is one of six currently in operation, reports Newsweek, which adds that catalytic converter thefts are on the rise: More than 14,000 were reported in 2020, up from 3,400 the year prior. (More weird crimes stories.)