Six collector cars stolen this week from a St. Paul body shop have been recovered, and police continue to search for the people who took them.

Tips from the public and good old-fashioned detective work led investigators to the vintage vehicles that were found abandoned in a wooded area of Woodbury, said St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders.

"That meant a lot" to the victim, a 77-year-old man who is a lifelong car enthusiast, Linders said.

Thieves kicked in the door of a garage behind the Highland Collision Center on the 2000 block of W. 7th Street where the six cars were being stored and drove them away early Sunday morning. The cars' owner, who discovered the theft and called police, was heartbroken, police said.

Gone were a 1967 Chevy Impala, a 1965 Pontiac LeMans, a 1965 GTO convertible, a 2000 Pontiac Firebird, a 2000 GMC pickup and a 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

The cars were valued at more than $300,000, according to police estimates.

St. Paul police working in concert with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Woodbury Police Department tracked down three of the sweet rides on Wednesday. The remaining vehicles were found Thursday and were being returned to the owner.

Nobody has been arrested. Police are asking anybody with information that could help them find the suspects to call 651-266-5560.