“	I tell you, if Sophie did this on a full-time basis, the car industry's troubles would disappear.	”
— Nate Ford, watching Sophie sell a car

Nate and his scheme team target a greedy car dealer (Duke Penzer). They rev up their scam by infiltrating the high-speed world of ace car thieves.

The Client

Paul Mantlo, a teacher who runs a landscaping business on the side. He purchases a pick-up truck from Penzer Auto Sales, which turns out to have been stolen, and has a cloned VIN.

The Mark

Duke Penzer, a former minor race car driver who parlays his limited fame into used car sales.

Aliases

• Nathan Ford - A.J. Lucas
• Sophie Devereaux - Katie Basich
• Parker - Dannelle
• Alec Hardison - Major
• Eliot Spencer - Skeeter

The Cons

Episode Notes

• The sequence where Nate (as A.J. Lucas) challenges Duke Penzer to a race draws heavily from the opening sequence in the Rockford Files episode "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job", an episode which also served as the basis for The Second David Job.

Trivia

• Neuro-linguistic programming is used in this episode. As Eliot is aware, it was previously used in "The Reunion Job". It was first used in "The Order 23 Job".
• Eliot's car is modified by the team and used to race against Duke Penzer's car Veronica.
• Hardison, when he is introducing the EMP cannon, quotes the line "This chick is toast," from the movie Ghostbusters. The gun's sound effects come from Ghostbusters' proton packs.
• Archie Comics is referenced in this episode. Nate's car is "Betty" while Duke's car is "Veronica".
• Sophie's car sales line, "Do you know why... just as an example - why driving this car is like making love to a beautiful woman?" is a play on the catchphrase of British comedy character (and car salesman) Swiss Toni.
• In this episode, Parker yells, "Get out of my way, you old bat!" while driving, both in a flashback showing her childhood get-away driver days and in real episode-time. In the episode preceding this one, The Gone Fishin' Job, the phrase "OUTTA MY WAY YOU OLD BAT!!!" appeared briefly as the caption of a computer screensaver (which startles Parker) that shows a yowling cat behind a steering wheel.
• During the scene where Penzer walks in on his staff watching basketball. On the screen is a game between BOS (Boston) and MEM (Memphis), as these two teams are in different conferences the only possible way these teams could verse in the playoffs would be in the NBA Finals. In 2010 the NBA finals were held in June, so this part of this episode may take place in June. However, the opening scene is time-stamped for May 24th, 2010.

Differences in Spanish dub

• The title El Caso del Robo de Autos translates to The Car Theft Case.

Episode Media