Stolen ford cosworth stories...

Stolen ford cosworth stories...

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vincenz

689 posts

231 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Heard this story second hand about a colleague of mine who had a Sierra in the early 90ies.

He worked for Ford at the time and had one as a company car, Ford has stopped issuing them to those based in the North West but those working in Essex could still get them.

He travelled up from the south to spend a week in Liverpool on a job he was on and was told by his manager to take a different car, but instead he took his Sierra and booked a Hotel about 8 miles out of the city, bit of inconvenience as it was a pain to commute and very few pubs / restaurants nearby.

First night in the hotel...... yep it was stolen.

NorthDave

2,355 posts

231 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I remember a story of the Jimmy Nail program where he drove one (Spender?) - they had a bodayguard for the cossie as so many people had tried to knick it.

Having said that I remember walking through Newcastle city centre and seeing a lad who looked about 12 driving a car out of the multi storey with his mates following in another car. Obviously stolen and very casual on a Saturday afternoon.

Seems mental looking back that taking cars was so common!

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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NorthDave said:
I remember a story of the Jimmy Nail program where he drove one (Spender?) - they had a bodayguard for the cossie as so many people had tried to knick it.

Having said that I remember walking through Newcastle city centre and seeing a lad who looked about 12 driving a car out of the multi storey with his mates following in another car. Obviously stolen and very casual on a Saturday afternoon.

Seems mental looking back that taking cars was so common!
The very first car used in the Spender series was stolen and later found burnt out in Newcastle

NoNeed

15,137 posts

199 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I came across the aftermath of an attempted cosworth theft on my milk round as a kid. The owner had driven posts into the driveway and chained the car to them, I think the flaw in this plan is the chains wrre out of site to the theives and proceded to pull up a great big piece of the drive as well as srriously damaging the under bits of the car. One wheel was flat to the ground when I arrived with two pintts of stera but it was not as flat as the owner.
Quite a few coppers were thrre too so they may have caught them.

Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I worked at a Ford dealership in 1992. We normally locked used Cosworths (and anything else with an RS or XR badge) in the workshops overnight, but one evening we'd had a Sapphire Cosworth out on a late test drive when the workshop manager had locked up and gone home. The dealer principal was away on business, and nobody else had a workshop key. After much deliberation, we decided to box it in on the forecourt, with a solid brick wall almost touching the rear bumper, and two cars directly in front of it, with at least two lots of two either side as well. This was in addition to the security fencing and chains around the forecourt itself. The car also had a very expensive Thatcham approved immobiliser.

When we came in in the morning we found an Escort and a Fiesta in the middle of the service road with screwdriver'd door locks, and no Cosworth.

It was found a week or so later burnt out in a local nature reserve after having been involved in multiple police pursuits and also being seen leaving the scene of an armed robbery.

pti

1,694 posts

143 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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JDMDrifter said:
Didn't Mr Clarkson have a cosworth at one point? Allegedly he was quoted £26k to insure it.

Have no idea if there's any truth in this though whistle
Escort IIRC.

darrenw

346 posts

282 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Not a Cosworth but when I was a kid a local bloke bought an ex-Police Escort RS2000 from when they were auctioning them off from their fleet, he drove it home, parked it on his drive and went inside to get his wife to show her his new motor... When they came out it had gone...

And the first Escort Cosworth I ever saw was when I had a Saturday/summer job at a Ford dealer and I came in one day to find the mangled remains of something in the middle of the workshop, looked vaguely Escort-shaped but it was an absolute mess, covered in mud and blood... They weren't officially launched at that point although it was well known they were coming out soon. I was told that it had been stolen from Fords at Halewood and chased across fields but I never found out the true/full story.

ChilliWhizz

11,990 posts

160 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I had a white Sierra RS Cosworth for two years ('90-'92) and it was never stolen getmecoat

Du1point8

21,604 posts

191 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Strange...

My folks had one from 1990 to 2009 and it was never touched and this was in Hull...

Had a vectra on it, but not a lot else.

It was sold when the car needed a full restoration on it due to the salt in the air living near the cost meant the tin worm got in.

urquattroGus

1,845 posts

189 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Dad had one of the last 4x4 sapphires (1993?).

He had a retractable security bollard placed behind it.

He kept a duster or something on the steering wheel to remind him to take said bollard down.

Still remember his #%!? words and face when he took said duster off the wheel and promptly reversed into the bollard with all of us in the car!

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I had 2 sap's as company cars back in the day

the first one (RWD) was stolen and recovered with the seats, wheels and cossie body parts missing

it was repaired and stolen a week later (thieves waited for its return?) never to be seen again

the 4WD replacement for it was stolen and totally stripped, they cut the front off to get the engine and gear box out, the engine was found a few years later in a traveller's p100 pickup ..

the insurance company then refused to insure any more

CO2000

3,177 posts

208 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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ChilliWhizz said:
I had a white Sierra RS Cosworth for two years ('90-'92) and it was never stolen getmecoat
I had a 2wd for a year in 93/94 and it didn't get stolen, lucky as I was only TPO! + later on had an Escort for 5 years and not a problem even out on the street most of the time. V lucky looking back..........

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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I still can't insure a Cosworth on my trade policy, every other car but no cossie

TC99

119 posts

122 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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My mates dad had a Cosworth. It was parked in a garage with a steel roll top shutter door with his pick up truck backed up to the door at night. The thieves cut the handbrake cable on the pick up, pushed it into the road, angle grinded the shutter door open and nicked the Cosworth.

It was burnt out after being used in a shooting.

I was a passenger only once in it, I was scared as the old git showed off his "skills".

0llie

3,006 posts

195 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Friend of mine purchased a stolen/recovered 3dr Sierra Cosworth back in the late eighties, then had some form of high-end alarm/immobiliser fitted.

He sold the car in 2002, where it was put into storage. He purchased it back in late 2011, drove it a few times, then ironically the immobiliser failed and was unable to start the car!

Roman Moroni

942 posts

122 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Many years ago there was a story (apparently true) where a guy had his Cosworth stolen from his drive way, fortunately it had a Tracker fitted. It was found very quickly, nearby, and subsequently returned to it's rightful owner.

Within a day or 2 the owner went outside, to find the car gone and in it's place was the Tracker unit. The car was never seen again.

Like I said it maybe true and could well be an urban myth.

graham22

3,293 posts

204 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Slight twist to a Cosworth theft story but fairly late on, a customer of mine had a Sierra Sapphire, got a little paranoid about it being stolen so decided to sell it.

Car was sold on a Saturday afternoon, £5k cash hidden in the home. Client had to go out, cash missing upon his return.

AC43

11,433 posts

207 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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One of my old bosses had a Sapphirein the early 90's. Nicked from outside a hotel in the Midlands one night, used in a ram raid and found burnt out the next day.

Rep in that company used to have Cav GSI's - they used to nicked from the NCP car park opposite the office in Derby with monotonous regularity.

NotNormal

2,357 posts

213 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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With all these Cosworth's being stolen it certainly makes you wonder about all these "project" cars you see, Mk1/2 Escorts, kit cars etc with a YB installed under the bonnet....

....just how many of those engines came from cars that were removed without the owners permission. scratchchin

epom

11,396 posts

160 months

Monday 27th January 2014
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Never actually thought things were that bad, had heard the 'stories'. Seriously though, I still can't believe no one came up with a solution to prevent them from being stolen. It sounds absolutely daft, most likely because it was.