Stolen ford cosworth stories...
Discussion
I'll never forget, I was at a car show in Sunderland late spring of 95, and a copper was displaying a marked up, blue lighted Escort RS Cosworth. It was quite a sight, and literally had the most road presence of any car ever. In fact, in full police livery, any villain would see this whale-taled escort coming a mile off. Anyway, as I was admiring it, the copper only came over to try and sell it to me! I asked him what the service history and mileage were like, and... are you sitting down for this... he admitted that, in two years, it had done 120,000 miles, been in five accidents - two of them serious, gone through three new engines and nine new turbochargers! I thanked him for his kind offer and politely declined.
Did. Can't remember. For some reason, all those other stats were so incredible they're welded on to my memory, but the price escapes me. Copper did tell me a price, and it was a bit beyond me, whatever it was. More to the point, the insurance for a 22 year old me at the time might have been just a quid or two 
That copper amazed me. When he regaled me with the life the car had lived on the battlefield (Sunderland was bad for car crime in the early to mid 90s), I told him he must be joking. Thing's knackered. To which he said no, we're the police, we over maintain our vehicles to the highest standard. Better than any civilian car. And I thought,
hmm, what about driving flat out over speed bumps while chasing Sunderland drug dealers, or mounting the kerb at high speed to get around traffic queues during a high speed pursuit? And I was like, nah! Nice try, tiger!
That copper amazed me. When he regaled me with the life the car had lived on the battlefield (Sunderland was bad for car crime in the early to mid 90s), I told him he must be joking. Thing's knackered. To which he said no, we're the police, we over maintain our vehicles to the highest standard. Better than any civilian car. And I thought,
hmm, what about driving flat out over speed bumps while chasing Sunderland drug dealers, or mounting the kerb at high speed to get around traffic queues during a high speed pursuit? And I was like, nah! Nice try, tiger!Johnny5hoods said:
Did. Can't remember. For some reason, all those other stats were so incredible they're welded on to my memory, but the price escapes me. Copper did tell me a price, and it was a bit beyond me, whatever it was. More to the point, the insurance for a 22 year old me at the time might have been just a quid or two
That copper amazed me. When he regaled me with the life the car had lived on the battlefield (Sunderland was bad for car crime in the early to mid 90s), I told him he must be joking. Thing's knackered. To which he said no, we're the police, we over maintain our vehicles to the highest standard. Better than any civilian car. And I thought, hmm, what about driving flat out over speed bumps while chasing Sunderland drug dealers, or mounting the kerb at high speed to get around traffic queues during a high speed pursuit? And I was like, nah! Nice try, tiger!
We used to have a Focus ST on our fleet. Its been sold now. I can't work out why anyone would buy a ex police car, especially one like that. It got driven hard pretty much every shift! That copper amazed me. When he regaled me with the life the car had lived on the battlefield (Sunderland was bad for car crime in the early to mid 90s), I told him he must be joking. Thing's knackered. To which he said no, we're the police, we over maintain our vehicles to the highest standard. Better than any civilian car. And I thought,
hmm, what about driving flat out over speed bumps while chasing Sunderland drug dealers, or mounting the kerb at high speed to get around traffic queues during a high speed pursuit? And I was like, nah! Nice try, tiger!Yeah. I reckon these coppers had to literally drive it like they stole it; imagine the irony in that! Saw a documentary about it once - specially trained expert high speed police drivers set aside just to chase drug dealers in the north of England. Stressful and highly hazardous. I guess they'd get a call out, and have to jump in the car and nail it from stone cold, hence the three new engines and nine new turbochargers. Great guys for doing it, but what a job!
lucido grigio said:
I expect they binned the front splitter and hockey sticks after tearing them off repeatedly.
I measured mine ,about 4" off the ground with standard suspension.
I tore off the splitter and the bendy stone guard/spoiler thing on a country lane once.
I seem to remember that they were supplied without the splitter and in some sort of rally wheel, especially so that they could deal with kerbs and speed bumps.I measured mine ,about 4" off the ground with standard suspension.
I tore off the splitter and the bendy stone guard/spoiler thing on a country lane once.
LosingGrip said:
We used to have a Focus ST on our fleet. Its been sold now. I can't work out why anyone would buy a ex police car, especially one like that. It got driven hard pretty much every shift!
Baffles me too. Whenever the police are responding to any emergency, they obviously have to prioritise attending to the incident above treating their vehicle gently, and rightly so. I once saw two policemen arrive at the scene of a collapsed individual, some kind of medical emergency, and they drove it (Omega V6) like a gettaway car. Even panda cars sometimes have to be driven like that if a serious incident's developing.Johnny5hoods said:
he admitted that, in two years, it had done 120,000 miles, been in five accidents - two of them serious, gone through three new engines and nine new turbochargers!
How the hell did they find the time to drive it 120k in two years? By the sounds of it, it was never out of the garage and bodyshop!
njw1 said:
Johnny5hoods said:
he admitted that, in two years, it had done 120,000 miles, been in five accidents - two of them serious, gone through three new engines and nine new turbochargers!
How the hell did they find the time to drive it 120k in two years? By the sounds of it, it was never out of the garage and bodyshop!
Suffice to say, the police had their hands full. Chopper can only be in one place at a time.Plus, I imagine N Yorks police were not exactly short of candidates willing to try out the Cossie
Edited by Johnny5hoods on Monday 25th December 19:25
njw1 said:
How the hell did they find the time to drive it 120k in two years? By the sounds of it, it was never out of the garage and bodyshop!
If you think about it, some of the “favourite” cars will be getting driven every single shift, so literally all day every day. 100k divided over 18 months is only about 180 miles a day. Admittedly that’s without downtime for servicing and crash repairs but you can see how it’s a doable figure.
bungz said:
Used to live in Chorlton as a lad. Dad had a company car, a brand new Sierra,E reg I think, just a normal low spec 5 door.
Lasted 72 hours.
A local lad who lived with his elderly mother bought a cossie and I think that went on the first night.
Crazy to think how easy they were to lift.
Yeah, 1980s Fords were crazy. Friend of mine locked herself out of her Fiesta. We tried a small flat bladed screwdriver in the lock, and it just opened up like we were using the proper key!Lasted 72 hours.
A local lad who lived with his elderly mother bought a cossie and I think that went on the first night.
Crazy to think how easy they were to lift.
You'd think Ford would've done something with the cossie. I mean, it was in production as an Sierra/Sapphire from 86 to 93(?). Seems like they didn't even try.
Does anyone remember a story in the news, way back, probably mid 90s ish, about a guy who booby trapped his cossie to stop thieves? He'd finally lost his rag after numerous attempts being made on it, so he fitted a high voltage system to give electric shocks to anyone who tried to nick it. Sadly, he parked it in a car park somewhere, and a security guard saw the device under the car. He thought it might be a bomb and investigated, and it gave him a near fatal shock. Think I remember talk of him maybe suffering life altering injuries and the owner was looking at criminal charges. Never heard any more, but always wondered how it panned out and what happened to that poor security guard.
I had a well paying job around the early 00's and fancied a toy for weekends. Cue someone locally and known to me selling a just completed rebuild of a white whale tail. Only days out of the paint shop.
Rang a few companies to try and insure it " hello Id like an insurance quote please ?", "certainly Sir whats the make and model", " Ford Sierra Cosworth" . . . . . . . . . click . . . . . . . .
Although sometimes Id get to "Ford Sierra Cosworth", " Oh this is going to be expensive Sir !, can I have the registration please ?" , "Sure, its Q . . . . . " . . . . . . . . . . . . click . . . . . .
Sold it 2 days later at a considerable loss.
Rang a few companies to try and insure it " hello Id like an insurance quote please ?", "certainly Sir whats the make and model", " Ford Sierra Cosworth" . . . . . . . . . click . . . . . . . .
Although sometimes Id get to "Ford Sierra Cosworth", " Oh this is going to be expensive Sir !, can I have the registration please ?" , "Sure, its Q . . . . . " . . . . . . . . . . . . click . . . . . .
Sold it 2 days later at a considerable loss.
Johnny5hoods said:
Yeah, 1980s Fords were crazy. Friend of mine locked herself out of her Fiesta. We tried a small flat bladed screwdriver in the lock, and it just opened up like we were using the proper key!
I had a Granada years ago and at the same time my mother had a Fiesta, it was quite amusing one day to find out that the Granada key would open and start the Fiesta and vice-versa, the Granada key would also open the boot of my missus Fiesta. And it's not just 80's Fords, we had a hired Transit at work a few weeks ago, I couldn't figure out why it wasn't turning over and the immobilizer light was flashing at me, until I realised that I had my Mondeo in the ignition.....
njw1 said:
Johnny5hoods said:
Yeah, 1980s Fords were crazy. Friend of mine locked herself out of her Fiesta. We tried a small flat bladed screwdriver in the lock, and it just opened up like we were using the proper key!
I had a Granada years ago and at the same time my mother had a Fiesta, it was quite amusing one day to find out that the Granada key would open and start the Fiesta and vice-versa, the Granada key would also open the boot of my missus Fiesta. And it's not just 80's Fords, we had a hired Transit at work a few weeks ago, I couldn't figure out why it wasn't turning over and the immobilizer light was flashing at me, until I realised that I had my Mondeo in the ignition.....
2 of my mates dads had cosies both of which got nicked!
One mate had a black 3dr which was stolen 4 times during his ownership which lucklily (or unluckily) kept getting found!
The last time it was stolen there was a caravan in front of the garage with the wheels removed for winter lay up, and a locked sapphire GLS on the drive in front. Early hours of the morning they broke into the sapphire, fitted some wheels to the caravan, hitched the caravan up to the sapphire, moved both out into the cul-de-sac, broke into the garage door, got past the alarm/immobiliser, and had it away!
Got to give the thriving b
ds credit for their efforts!😮
My other mates dad had his Saph cossie nicked & a couple of years ago, 20 years after it was stolen we were at another mates house for a Christmas party when it all kicked off as my mate who’s dad had it stolen accused the host mates dad for stealing it!😂😂
One mate had a black 3dr which was stolen 4 times during his ownership which lucklily (or unluckily) kept getting found!
The last time it was stolen there was a caravan in front of the garage with the wheels removed for winter lay up, and a locked sapphire GLS on the drive in front. Early hours of the morning they broke into the sapphire, fitted some wheels to the caravan, hitched the caravan up to the sapphire, moved both out into the cul-de-sac, broke into the garage door, got past the alarm/immobiliser, and had it away!
Got to give the thriving b
ds credit for their efforts!😮My other mates dad had his Saph cossie nicked & a couple of years ago, 20 years after it was stolen we were at another mates house for a Christmas party when it all kicked off as my mate who’s dad had it stolen accused the host mates dad for stealing it!😂😂
Performance Fords have always been a target. My Dad's F reg (1968?) Cortina 1600E was nicked and stripped for parts. They got the thieves when the police found the steering wheel on their Transit.
My former neighbour has a 3 door Cossie. He tells me he's still followed often and has to take long detours to hide its location, to the point where he's thinking of selling it. Shame.
My former neighbour has a 3 door Cossie. He tells me he's still followed often and has to take long detours to hide its location, to the point where he's thinking of selling it. Shame.
My mother-in-law once managed to get into a Mk2 Cortina that was the identical twin of her own example. I also had a Mk2 Capri 1600E nicked - not sure how they took it as it was burned out. Got my P6 3500S to replace that and, having had three Fords (the Capri, my Mk3 Cortina 1.6 and my dad's Mk3 Cortina 2.0), I never looked back.
As regards theft and stripping of fast Audis, I'm reminded of this - a presumably hydrolocked RS5 abandoned in the floods nearly five years ago, reduced in days to little more than a floorpan... https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/audi-s...
As regards theft and stripping of fast Audis, I'm reminded of this - a presumably hydrolocked RS5 abandoned in the floods nearly five years ago, reduced in days to little more than a floorpan... https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/audi-s...
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