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As It Happens

UPDATE: The 'Scat Rat' is back!

A Saskatoon man whose 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass was stolen and chopped up for parts has now fixed it up.
CBC Radio ·
Bob Heroux and his 'Scat Rat' - a 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass (Bob Heroux/CBC)
As It Happens5:26UPDATE: The 'Scat Rat' is back!

The 'Scat Rat' will race again. The affectionately-named 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass race car has been Bob Heroux's pride and joy for decades. But last July, tragedy struck. As we told you about at the time, thieves stole his car. It was later found in pieces in a field. 

As Heroux told As It Happens host Carol Off, "It's been part of our family. It's kind of our family pet. It was devastating when we found it cut up. It hurt. It hurt real bad."

Bob Heroux, owner of Lazer Autobody, holds a photo of the 'Scat Rat.' His racing car was stolen from the Saskatoon auto body shop last Summer. (Madeline Kotzer/CBC)

Over the past nine months, Heroux and his friends have been on a mission to bring the Scat Rat back to life, right down to the airbrushed image that gave the original rat its name. "It's purple with a big rat on the side. The airbrush artist who did it 23 years ago came and did it at my shop. It's beautiful." 

We are happy to report that after months of hard work, the Scat Rat is growling again, and is nearly ready to return to the drag strip. The new Scat Rat was pieced together using the body frame from another 1968 Cutlass, along with parts of the old car, and the original Rat's engine. 

Bob Heroux, owner of the Scat Rat, offered a $10,000 reward for the return of his race car. (Braydon Heroux/Lazer Autobody )
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Last Sunday, Heroux rolled the new Scat Rat out of the shop to show it off to family and friends for the first time. "When we moved it out in the sun, It was an emotional day. It looks exactly the same." 

Meanwhile, two men have been charged with theft and will stand trial in Saskatoon this spring. 

Here is a video of Bob Heroux in less happy times, as he was trying to piece together the Scat Rat.

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