I believe it appeared in the mid-to-late 70's: about a car thief that
stole cars then sold them until he saved enough money to buy the car
he really wanted (a sports car I think) In the end after he finally
buys the car, he sets it on fire.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 02 Jun 2005 11:30 PDT

Is there any chance that the car thief might have been a woman?

"Sweet Revenge (1976)
A young woman with a long rap sheet who steals cars for a living is
befriended by a public defender who tries to steer her straight. But
her goal is to steal and subsequently sell enough cars (sometimes the
same car more than once) to buy a new Ferrari."

http://imdb.com/title/tt0076789/plotsummary

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Clarification of Question by furmonkey-ga on 03 Jun 2005 22:39 PDT

I don't remember the thief as a female, but it's been so long...  if
she sets the car on fire at the end, this movie sounds like it could
be it.

I think pinkfreud has nailed it. According to a comment in Google
Groups, the woman does set fire to the Ferrari at the end.
  
Graham writes:
  
"Sweet Revenge - after spending the whole movie scrimping money to get 
it, why does Stockard Channing set fire to her Ferrari at the end?  It 
makes no sense."
  
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.arts.movies.past-films/browse_thread/thread/b29d6f9b2481663/4b60e1dd6abde9e8

thanks for the info jackburton.  It does sound like the movie.  I hope
the $7.00 is claimed because I feel the question has been answered.