Thieves grab two sports cars from garage

Cars similar to the missing Porsche, top, and Mercedes. Their numbers are AZJ 911 and BHH 499.

Thieves who broke into a North Shore home and stole two sports cars each worth up to $200,000 may be the ones behind thefts from car yards in the Waikato and Auckland.

The silver 2002 Porsche 996 and the black 2003 Mercedes coupe were taken from a Milford home on Tuesday afternoon.

Police say that on Tuesday at 1.45pm the Mercedes was seen being driven erratically across the Harbour Bridge and there were sightings of the Porsche being driven at speed on Piha Rd, west Auckland.

North Shore Police Inspector Les Paterson said thieves stole these sort of cars for "the thrill of it" and it was possible that the latest case was related to a spate of thefts of other expensive cars in Auckland and Waikato.

Mr Paterson said the burglars broke into the house and found the keys to the vehicles, parked inside the garage.

Some evidence suggested the burglary could have been planned, but he would not say what that evidence was.

He said there was nothing sophisticated about the burglary, but "some of the most cunning burglars use some of the crudest means because they are effective".

Police hope the public will come forward with more sightings of the Porsche (AZJ 911) and Mercedes (BHH 499).

"They would be pretty hard to miss even if they swapped the plates. There are not many of these vehicles around."

The people who stole the cars would know that police cars could not keep up with them. But in a pursuit they would be tracked by the police helicopter. "They have a degree of confidence - probably too much confidence because every time something like that happens one of them ends up crashing the car and getting caught."

In the last three months, more than $100,000 worth of vehicles have been stolen from yards and workshops in Grey Lynn, Ponsonby and Mt Eden.

One dealership lost a Commodore HSV worth $25,000 and a Mitsubishi valued at $18,000 in two separate raids.