Discussion
As much as I love them, I'm glad I've not got my Twin Cam anymore, I'd just be too paranoid about it being taken despite security precautions a plenty....
Really, really feel for the owner.
I'm sorry to say, but this will have been broken up already, parts stripped and the shell/engine identity removed with the shell being sold/or used as a mint shell for historic rallying.
Really, really feel for the owner.
I'm sorry to say, but this will have been broken up already, parts stripped and the shell/engine identity removed with the shell being sold/or used as a mint shell for historic rallying.
Had a very nice Lotus Cortina knicked a while ago, the police said that within 24 hours it would have either been :-
1. Stripped to parts / shell (with id removed) & these items dispersed around the country to sell at a later date.
or
2. Placed in a container & shipped out of the country .... probably to Russia.
Their view was that these cars are stolen to order, & their disposal planned in advance by well organised criminal gangs.
My insurance company paid out the agreed value cover sum, & the DVLA database reg number / id was marked to ensure that these could never be reused. Not any real compensation of course.
Nothing has ever surfaced.
1. Stripped to parts / shell (with id removed) & these items dispersed around the country to sell at a later date.
or
2. Placed in a container & shipped out of the country .... probably to Russia.
Their view was that these cars are stolen to order, & their disposal planned in advance by well organised criminal gangs.
My insurance company paid out the agreed value cover sum, & the DVLA database reg number / id was marked to ensure that these could never be reused. Not any real compensation of course.
Nothing has ever surfaced.
Maulden7 said:
Their view was that these cars are stolen to order, & their disposal planned in advance by well organised criminal gangs.
Almost certainley spotters attend classic car shows/owners club events and follow targeted cars back to where they are kept and then thefts planned from that.
aeropilot said:
Almost certainley spotters attend classic car shows/owners club events and follow targeted cars back to where they are kept and then thefts planned from that.
buy an old cheap car and make a belt and braces security system on it and park it in front of your garage(if you have the room of course)at least it will buy time.
Back in 1980 we had our Mk 2 RS 2000 X pack stolen from my parents’ house. Apparently the thieves had followed me home, forced their way into the garage and prised out the boot lock to get the key no.
They had a key made and came back the next night, pushed the RS up the long drive onto the road and started it up there!
At the time we were quite friendly with the editor of the Portsmouth evening news who graciously placed a photo of the car with big words “Race Car Stolen” on the front page. No internet back then of course, so this was quite something.
Fortunately the Gang who stole the car panicked and abandoned it partially stripped in a field Near Romsey, they had drilled out all the GRP arches methodically, front panel etc and removed the interior.
When I went to identify the car, the Police officer commented that they had loosened the Twin webbers, not realising that they were supposed to move a bit!
We had the car re built under insurance into a Flat front, so we were lucky. The police latter caught this bunch of thieving scumbags, most of the parts were recovered in a garage behind a large house in Fareham, pity they did not cut their hands off!
My thoughts go out to the owner, having been victim of a car theft it’s a sickening feeling.
I remember I kept going and looking in the garage to see if I had missed it, not believing my pride and joy was not there anymore.
Hope this has a happy ending.
They had a key made and came back the next night, pushed the RS up the long drive onto the road and started it up there!
At the time we were quite friendly with the editor of the Portsmouth evening news who graciously placed a photo of the car with big words “Race Car Stolen” on the front page. No internet back then of course, so this was quite something.
Fortunately the Gang who stole the car panicked and abandoned it partially stripped in a field Near Romsey, they had drilled out all the GRP arches methodically, front panel etc and removed the interior.
When I went to identify the car, the Police officer commented that they had loosened the Twin webbers, not realising that they were supposed to move a bit!
We had the car re built under insurance into a Flat front, so we were lucky. The police latter caught this bunch of thieving scumbags, most of the parts were recovered in a garage behind a large house in Fareham, pity they did not cut their hands off!
My thoughts go out to the owner, having been victim of a car theft it’s a sickening feeling.
I remember I kept going and looking in the garage to see if I had missed it, not believing my pride and joy was not there anymore.
Hope this has a happy ending.
garagewidow said:
aeropilot said:
Almost certainley spotters attend classic car shows/owners club events and follow targeted cars back to where they are kept and then thefts planned from that.
Same thing happened to a mates Mk2 RS2 a few months later, he only knew about it when a neighbour knocked on their door to ask why his fathers Granada Ghia was sitting in the middle of the road with the doors open and hazard flashers going......
...Really feel for the owners. A lot of stolen Escorts find their way across to Ireland.
I made a tracker using an old mobile phone. I'm not exactly a technical wizard but it was pretty simple to do and means I can go online and trace my cars position to within a few feet. I also doused everything in SMART water. Added to that I bought a Thatcham approved alarm and a Disc lock. The Police said people should do anything they can to buy time.
I made a tracker using an old mobile phone. I'm not exactly a technical wizard but it was pretty simple to do and means I can go online and trace my cars position to within a few feet. I also doused everything in SMART water. Added to that I bought a Thatcham approved alarm and a Disc lock. The Police said people should do anything they can to buy time.
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