The top three most stolen of the Top 10 stolen used sports cars in the United States are classic pieces of Motor City Metal: the Chevrolet Camaro, the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger. All are fast and apparently strongly desired by discerning auto thieves, especially in certain states.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has released the latest in its catalog of refreshed vehicle theft reports, this one on the “Sporty” classification.

It is based on National Crime Information Center (NCIC) vehicle theft records for the period Jan. 1, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2012, and limited to 2010, 2011 and 2012 model-year vehicles.

Used sports cars are broken down into three classes: premium, mid-sized and compact, each class containing several makes and models as defined by Automotive News. The report looks at used sports cars thefts by class, as well as the top 10 theft makes and models.

During this reporting period, a total of 3,780 used sports cars were reported stolen in the United States. By far, the mid-sized class had the most theft activity with 3,271 thefts, or 87% of the used sports cars total.

Within that class, the Chevrolet Camaro had the most theft reports (1,509), followed by the Ford Mustang (980) and the Dodge Challenger (782). According to the NICB, those three vehicles had the highest theft figures of the entire report. Rounding out the top five most stolen used sports cars were the Porsche Panamera (103) and the Audi A5/S5 (101).

Here is a chart of the top 10 makes and models and number stolen:

1. Chevrolet Camaro: 1,509
2. Ford Mustang: 980
3. Dodge Challenger: 782
4. Porsche Panamera: 103
5. Audi A5/S5: 101
6. Chevrolet Corvette: 69
7. Nissan 370Z: 47
8. BMW  6 Series: 45
9. Porsche 911: 24
10. Volkswagen Eos: 23

An important thing to note is statistically these are not a lot of stolen used sports cars. Of course, if you're the owner just having your car stolen is always a devastating experience but overall approximately 725,000 used cars were stolen in 2012.

So, where are these used sports cars stolen from the most? As the bank robber Willie Lohman used to say, "I rob banks because that's where the money is." The same is true of used sports cars. You go where they are and, not surprisingly, the hot spot for stolen used cars would be Los Angeles, Calif.

The state where the most used sports cars thefts occurred was:

1. California (764),
2. Florida (443),
3. Texas (381),
4. Georgia (257) and,
5. Michigan (187).

According the NICB, "When reviewed by core-based statistical areas (CBSA), used sports car thefts were most reported from the:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA area (291)
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA area (226)
3. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL area (208)
4. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA area (198) and,
5. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI area (179).

The bad news is if your used sports car was stolen in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA area, you had a greater chance of never seeing it again. That metropolitan area had the highest number of unrecovered sporty vehicle thefts. By the way, consider yourself further out of luck if you had a premium used sports car stolen. Those had the lowest level of recovery on a percentage basis. Then again, only 292 were stolen in the U.S. in 2012.

The midsize used sports car class fares the best when it comes to recovery rates on a percentage basis. The NICB reports that almost 88% of them were recovered, which seems to suggest these used sports cars were more the target of joy riders and not stolen by sophisticated car theft rings, which tend to focus on more expensive used sports car for resale.

The NICB has advice on protecting your used sports car from being stolen. NICB’s four layers of protection are:

• Common Sense: Lock your car and take your keys. It’s simple enough, but many thefts occur because owners make it easy for thieves to steal their cars.
• Warning Device: Having and using a visible or audible warning device is another item that can ensure that your car remains where you left it.
• Immobilizing Device: Generally speaking, if your vehicle can’t be started, it can’t be stolen. “Kill” switches, fuel cut-offs and smart keys are among the devices that are extremely effective.
• Tracking Device: A tracking device emits a signal to the police or to a monitoring station when the vehicle is stolen. Tracking devices are very effective in helping authorities recover stolen vehicles. Some systems employ “telematics,” which combine GPS and wireless technologies to allow remote monitoring of a vehicle. If the vehicle is moved, the system will alert the owner and the vehicle can be tracked via computer.