Stolen ford cosworth stories...
Discussion
My dad had a 2wd saf - he blew it up on the autobahn and paid several grand getting it fixed a main dealer. Two weeks after it he got it back - yep it was stolen and never seem again. We reckon it was an inside job, as they would of known thAt the alarm
didnt work and his home address.
didnt work and his home address.
I remember a friend of a friend owned a mint saff cossie , kept in a locked garage , with a post in front of the door , a van/car parked across the drive and all manner of alarms (vecta) i think .
They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
There was one nicked from the compound at Northumbria Police workshops prior to it getting marked up. One of the guys at the Police driving school was in Traffic at the time and he saw it not long afterwards and had a (very short) pursuit with it. I believe that the thief eventually climbed a tree in it in Cleveland's area.
Same instructor drove both escort and Sierra Cossies during his time on traffic. He told me that if the escort cossie was chasing something, a lot of the time the scrotes would pull over and either peg it or give up because they knew they simply couldn't shake it. There was actual fighting to get the keys when the first one was delivered.
Edited because autocorrect is ste.
Same instructor drove both escort and Sierra Cossies during his time on traffic. He told me that if the escort cossie was chasing something, a lot of the time the scrotes would pull over and either peg it or give up because they knew they simply couldn't shake it. There was actual fighting to get the keys when the first one was delivered.
Edited because autocorrect is ste.
Edited by Pepperami on Monday 29th September 19:02
traffman said:
I remember a friend of a friend owned a mint saff cossie , kept in a locked garage , with a post in front of the door , a van/car parked across the drive and all manner of alarms (vecta) i think .
They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
Sounds as though these would of been a pain to own back in the day!They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
Growing up in a village to the south of Brum, me and my brother used to hear chases going on all the time when we were kids. You'd just hear a right racket go past the house followed by sirens about 5-10 seconds later... I'd bet some of those were Saffs! There was an off licence just round the corner from me which got done several times, to the point where they installed massive fk off bollards all across the front. There was a Subaru dealership almost opposite and my Dad being in the force back then used to tell me that Impreza's were the top choice for thieves around Warwickshire during the late 90s. I can remember his 1987 Cavalier SRI 130 being taken from outside a hotel in Walsall, the thieves took out his headlight in order to snip through the immobiliser/alarm wiring. He got it back the same night but it was never the same again, and shat a conrod through the block about 9 months later and he sold it for pennies... The 90s were undoubtedly a st time to have a performance car!
D1on said:
traffman said:
I remember a friend of a friend owned a mint saff cossie , kept in a locked garage , with a post in front of the door , a van/car parked across the drive and all manner of alarms (vecta) i think .
They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
Sounds as though these would of been a pain to own back in the day!They cut the handbrake cable on the van , and by passed everything to get at the cossie. Never found again. The engines prob in a MK2 escort!
Turkish91 said:
I can remember his 1987 Cavalier SRI 130 being taken from outside a hotel in Walsall, the thieves took out his headlight in order to snip through the immobiliser/alarm wiring. He got it back the same night but it was never the same again, and shat a conrod through the block about 9 months later and he sold it for pennies... The 90s were undoubtedly a st time to have a performance car!
To me that just highlights how st alarms and immobilisers were then. Especially the aftermarket ones. The 'Moss' sticker in the window of any half good average brand car at the time was probably more use than the alarm.RobinBanks said:
To me that just highlights how st alarms and immobilisers were then. Especially the aftermarket ones. The 'Moss' sticker in the window of any half good average brand car at the time was probably more use than the alarm.
Loads of alarms were sold as DIY fit and were just complete rubbish. The sticker often just told the thieves how to deal with it. A common trick was to remove the side repeater bulb and replace it with tin foil. Open the door and the alarm fuse blew! Remove tin foil and drive off.
People had 2 alarms and an immobiliser fitted and the car was still nicked. Factory fitted immobilisers have improved things enormously.
LordLoveLength said:
Loads of alarms were sold as DIY fit and were just complete rubbish. The sticker often just told the thieves how to deal with it.
A common trick was to remove the side repeater bulb and replace it with tin foil. Open the door and the alarm fuse blew! Remove tin foil and drive off.
People had 2 alarms and an immobiliser fitted and the car was still nicked. Factory fitted immobilisers have improved things enormously.
You're right certainly in that I remember seeing cars with Moss (or whatever brand) stickers on and thinking "but doesn't that just tell the thief which system it is and prepare them on how to bypass it?"A common trick was to remove the side repeater bulb and replace it with tin foil. Open the door and the alarm fuse blew! Remove tin foil and drive off.
People had 2 alarms and an immobiliser fitted and the car was still nicked. Factory fitted immobilisers have improved things enormously.
RobinBanks said:
To me that just highlights how st alarms and immobilisers were then. Especially the aftermarket ones. The 'Moss' sticker in the window of any half good average brand car at the time was probably more use than the alarm.
The good old Moss stickers, they were on the rear windows of just about everything back then!Not all were taken by low life joyriders. Owners who couldn't sell them, due to the high insurance, ironically had their own cars stolen. They received a payout for the car, had the scene done to look like a break in, and then got the insurance money.
There are also stories of certain top cossie tuners having a shady past too or capitalising on the situation.
There are also stories of certain top cossie tuners having a shady past too or capitalising on the situation.
One of my mums friends had a sapphire and one night there was a knock at the door and a very polite young man asked him for the keys, he got 2 or 3 steps into chasing him off when the second scally hit him with the baseball bat, his wife then gave the guy the key and called an ambulance!
We were sitting in a pub in an area of Birmingham called handsworth. It can be a little dodgy at times.
A chap of west Indian appearance approaches our table, "wan buy cyar?" Feck off mate,we are having a quiet pint. He was a persistent bugger,so in the end we went outside to have a look. It was a brand new 3 door cosworth in moonstone,it may have had red leather,but that could be my memory playing up.
He wanted £100 so he could buy some weed.story was he came across the car after it had already been stolen by somebody else and parked up.
We had no option but to tell him to go away,but it was lovely.
A chap of west Indian appearance approaches our table, "wan buy cyar?" Feck off mate,we are having a quiet pint. He was a persistent bugger,so in the end we went outside to have a look. It was a brand new 3 door cosworth in moonstone,it may have had red leather,but that could be my memory playing up.
He wanted £100 so he could buy some weed.story was he came across the car after it had already been stolen by somebody else and parked up.
We had no option but to tell him to go away,but it was lovely.
RobinBanks said:
Turkish91 said:
I can remember his 1987 Cavalier SRI 130 being taken from outside a hotel in Walsall, the thieves took out his headlight in order to snip through the immobiliser/alarm wiring. He got it back the same night but it was never the same again, and shat a conrod through the block about 9 months later and he sold it for pennies... The 90s were undoubtedly a st time to have a performance car!
To me that just highlights how st alarms and immobilisers were then. Especially the aftermarket ones. The 'Moss' sticker in the window of any half good average brand car at the time was probably more use than the alarm.Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff