Stolen ford cosworth stories...
Discussion
Not a stolen story as such , but a product of the times.
Pulled the interior including dash out of my saff cosworth a few weeks back to sort a patch or 2 of rust!
And found a clifford sensor thats not pluged into anything, and doesn't plug into anything. Another black box with wires chopped off. And lots of earths with additional soldered and taped up wires cut off.
Guessing from years of various Alarms and immobilisers, but possibly attempted thefts!
Pulled the interior including dash out of my saff cosworth a few weeks back to sort a patch or 2 of rust!
And found a clifford sensor thats not pluged into anything, and doesn't plug into anything. Another black box with wires chopped off. And lots of earths with additional soldered and taped up wires cut off.
Guessing from years of various Alarms and immobilisers, but possibly attempted thefts!
The guy who installed the tracker on my Lotus 9 years ago basically said what a waste of time and money trackers and alarms are. His boss used to have a Cosworth. He parked it in an airport car park. When he got back, the car had been broken into, the tracker found, disconnected and lobbed over the perimeter fence. However, the car had not been stolen. The only reason was a well hidden battery kill switch, which cost a couple of quid. I guess the thieves gave up trying and moved on to something else.
Edited by LotusOmega375D on Thursday 25th April 08:59
back in 1989 (IIRC) my boss a very well spoken upper crust english gentleman took delivery of his new Sapphire Cosworth.
Within 24 hours it was stolen from outside his office in bristol and was seen racing around the streets driven by a group of afro carribean dreadlocked types.
The car was later recovered by police and came with a set of Bob Marley cassette tapes. he was a classical music fan, and Marley was miles from his comfort zone.
The boss was not happy when he came into the next team meeting to find Bob Marley playing to welcome his arrival................
The car was stolen 2 more times before he got rid of it and went to a 7 series BMW.
Within 24 hours it was stolen from outside his office in bristol and was seen racing around the streets driven by a group of afro carribean dreadlocked types.
The car was later recovered by police and came with a set of Bob Marley cassette tapes. he was a classical music fan, and Marley was miles from his comfort zone.
The boss was not happy when he came into the next team meeting to find Bob Marley playing to welcome his arrival................
The car was stolen 2 more times before he got rid of it and went to a 7 series BMW.
Davey S2 said:
Missed this thread originally.
Not a Cosworth but a guy who worked for my father had a Calibra 4x4 Turbo that was nicked about 4 times before they sold it.
At this time I worked for a Volvo garage as part of the Appleyard group. We were the authorised paint dealership for the northern part of the group.Not a Cosworth but a guy who worked for my father had a Calibra 4x4 Turbo that was nicked about 4 times before they sold it.
A customer with a Calibra 4x4 Turbo had it nicked and recovered, it came to us for paintwork then went on to the Vauxhall dealer for other work. It was coming back to us for snagging....
The service manager drove into the compound one morning coming into work and saw the Calibra being driven away so he waved thinking we'd come to pick it up.
Nope, the thieves had swanned in during broad daylight, broken in and driven it away - it wasn't recovered again.
Thought I'd posted on here before but must have thought about it but never did!
Anyway, somebody pages back mentioned Vince Woodman, the late touring car and super saloon driver.
He used to own VMW Motors in Frampton Cotterell near Bristol.
My dad purchased a few cars from Vince over the years, including 3 RWD Sapphire Cosworths in the early 90's (Moonstone Blue, crashed after 3 months after oversteering into a kerb in Chipping Sodbury F426 THK, Flint Grey lasted for about 120,000 miles before being moved on G255 COO and, my favourite, a Magenta one which had to go due to finances after about 6 years and another 120,000 miles).
Anyway, on one of his trips to collect a car from VMW, he was told that a few days earlier somebody had tried to steal Vince Woodman's rare factory red 3-door (1 of 3 I think?) from the garage.
After getting in and speeding away, he was spotted by Vince who jumped into another 3-door that was on the forecourt for sale, and gave chase on the main road.
Now Vince used to unofficially use this road for test drives - and I remember him going pretty quick back in the day as a 10 year old boy sat in the back of a RWD Cossie at 120mph. He knew the road very well - and he very quickly caught up with the stolen car - somehow managing to get him stopped so he could call the police.
I don't recall there being any damage to the red cossie, but I'm sure a bit of force was required - and the red one was never in great condition when I saw it so perhaps a bit of a touring car nudge was used!
Either way, I'd have loved to have seen the cossie vs cossie chase from the side of the road - theif vs touring car racer!
It's years ago but I think the reg. was VMW 3 - which comes up as a Vauxhall Astra now
Anyway, somebody pages back mentioned Vince Woodman, the late touring car and super saloon driver.
He used to own VMW Motors in Frampton Cotterell near Bristol.
My dad purchased a few cars from Vince over the years, including 3 RWD Sapphire Cosworths in the early 90's (Moonstone Blue, crashed after 3 months after oversteering into a kerb in Chipping Sodbury F426 THK, Flint Grey lasted for about 120,000 miles before being moved on G255 COO and, my favourite, a Magenta one which had to go due to finances after about 6 years and another 120,000 miles).
Anyway, on one of his trips to collect a car from VMW, he was told that a few days earlier somebody had tried to steal Vince Woodman's rare factory red 3-door (1 of 3 I think?) from the garage.
After getting in and speeding away, he was spotted by Vince who jumped into another 3-door that was on the forecourt for sale, and gave chase on the main road.
Now Vince used to unofficially use this road for test drives - and I remember him going pretty quick back in the day as a 10 year old boy sat in the back of a RWD Cossie at 120mph. He knew the road very well - and he very quickly caught up with the stolen car - somehow managing to get him stopped so he could call the police.
I don't recall there being any damage to the red cossie, but I'm sure a bit of force was required - and the red one was never in great condition when I saw it so perhaps a bit of a touring car nudge was used!
Either way, I'd have loved to have seen the cossie vs cossie chase from the side of the road - theif vs touring car racer!
It's years ago but I think the reg. was VMW 3 - which comes up as a Vauxhall Astra now
I believe the red 3dr sold on Collecting Cars back in 2021 - https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1986-ford-sier...
Cheers
Cheers
I owned a 1990 Sapphire for a few years and fortunately kept it without any attempted thefts . I could only afford it because of the bad reputation they had for being stolen killed resale values’ .
There was a lovely 3 door cossie in the same village , moonstone blue iirc which was stolen one night . It ended up in a large dyke nearby . I spotted it and climbed down to have a look , I was horrified to find under the bonnet lurked a 2.0 li Pinto lump ! Fake !
I assume the thieves were so pissed off by the s
tty performance they shoved it into the dyke and walked .
There was a lovely 3 door cossie in the same village , moonstone blue iirc which was stolen one night . It ended up in a large dyke nearby . I spotted it and climbed down to have a look , I was horrified to find under the bonnet lurked a 2.0 li Pinto lump ! Fake !
I assume the thieves were so pissed off by the s
tty performance they shoved it into the dyke and walked . I didn't know which section to put this in?
Here is a video of an interview with the original owner of Lotus Carlton 40 RA.
As a twist on this thread, a Cosworth was used to steal the LC apparently!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMolhAxm06w
Here is a video of an interview with the original owner of Lotus Carlton 40 RA.
As a twist on this thread, a Cosworth was used to steal the LC apparently!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMolhAxm06w
s m said:
sideways man said:
Sapphire Cosworths were only worth £2k for a very long time. Guess this thread explains why….
Having said that you could get the Merc Cosworths for similar for a fair while too and the M3s for a grand more I built a Mk1 Escort with a cosworth yb…. no idea where that engine came from, and didn’t occur to ask questions either.
clubsport said:
I didn't know which section to put this in?
Here is a video of an interview with the original owner of Lotus Carlton 40 RA.
As a twist on this thread, a Cosworth was used to steal the LC apparently!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMolhAxm06w
And a Cavalier 4x4 Turbo! Here is a video of an interview with the original owner of Lotus Carlton 40 RA.
As a twist on this thread, a Cosworth was used to steal the LC apparently!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMolhAxm06w
s m said:
sideways man said:
Sapphire Cosworths were only worth £2k for a very long time. Guess this thread explains why….
Having said that you could get the Merc Cosworths for similar for a fair while too and the M3s for a grand more CKY said:
I paid £1500 for a running, MOT'd 190e 2.5 in Blauschwarz back in 2006. Kept it for a while as I was going to build it in to a track car, never thought much of it so ended up selling for a profit a few years later - didn't feel anything like as good in terms of chassis/handling compared to the M3 or the Sierras.
You could definitely get the 2.3-16s for just about a grand at one point. They were pretty slow compared to the Ford and BMW - friend’s 2.3-16 was no quicker than an XR4. Plus they rusted like an Alfasud under the body kitThe 2.5-16 was a lot faster
I turned down a sapphire cossy (tuned) from Well Lane Turbos back in the day for 8 grand, altho mint condition exterior it was a laggy dog of a car. I bought a Rover Tomcat Turbo instead with about 1/3rd less miles and much better condition.
I then also passed on a high mileage (at the time) E30 M3 for 18 grand as I didn't think it was worth it. Not my best decision but enjoyed other cars since and wouldn't want a cossy now.
I then also passed on a high mileage (at the time) E30 M3 for 18 grand as I didn't think it was worth it. Not my best decision but enjoyed other cars since and wouldn't want a cossy now.
s m said:
You could definitely get the 2.3-16s for just about a grand at one point. They were pretty slow compared to the Ford and BMW - friend’s 2.3-16 was no quicker than an XR4. Plus they rusted like an Alfasud under the body kit
The 2.5-16 was a lot faster
Dread to think how slow a 2.3 must feel then - the 2.5 didn't 'get going' until about 4.5k RPM, and even then wasn't much quicker than a E30 325i Sport. I was surprised how slow it felt - that teamed with the woeful gearchange is one of a few reasons it went. I wouldn't have another that's for sure!The 2.5-16 was a lot faster
Back in the 90s a new sales manager came to a company bash in the midlands to meet his new team. He hadn't actually left his old company at this point but as it was a done deal he decided to drive up from London in his Sapphire Cossie and join in.
The next morning he want to get his car and it was gone. Turned out it had been use in a ram raid and written off. Cue lots of awkward calls to his existing employer trying explain why exactly he was in Derby in the middle of the week. Oops.
The next morning he want to get his car and it was gone. Turned out it had been use in a ram raid and written off. Cue lots of awkward calls to his existing employer trying explain why exactly he was in Derby in the middle of the week. Oops.
CKY said:
s m said:
You could definitely get the 2.3-16s for just about a grand at one point. They were pretty slow compared to the Ford and BMW - friend’s 2.3-16 was no quicker than an XR4. Plus they rusted like an Alfasud under the body kit
The 2.5-16 was a lot faster
Dread to think how slow a 2.3 must feel then - the 2.5 didn't 'get going' until about 4.5k RPM, and even then wasn't much quicker than a E30 325i Sport. I was surprised how slow it felt - that teamed with the woeful gearchange is one of a few reasons it went. I wouldn't have another that's for sure!The 2.5-16 was a lot faster
He still has his 2.5-16 - much quicker with the extra 20bhp - very well tied down at the back compared to the BM and Ford though…… or less playful if you like!
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