| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Art Love |
Posted - 04/28/2012 : 04:58:07
Those of you who have been following my various postings in recent years will recall that I had several donor cars as well as my 300SE LWB Finnie at my little house at Rocklea which all went 20 feet under water in the Jan 2011 floods. Fortunately, I had moved the Finnie to my place, the 6.3 was locked in the shed and the Finnie donor was totally disassembled with the remaining components either at Justins or my place. That left the W108 280SE donor, the W108 300SE donor and the 300SEL donor at Rocklea. Well the lawless among our community think nothing of stealing my cars. A while ago, I had the 280S parked across the road from where I live. Some neighbour obviously didn't think it should be parked there, because a tilt tray truck arrived one day and just backed up to it to take it away . Fortunately, my wife's gardener happened to be parked behind it and Cheryll went out to talk to him just when the truck arrived. When asked what he thought he was doing, he promptly left. I live in a street where there is no passing traffic and believe that a neighbour had rung one of those companies who take abandoned cars away for crushing.
That was bad enough, but last week, the gardener went to cut the grass at Rocklea and rang Cheryll to say that only one of my donor cars was still there! Some bunch of scumbags have come and taken the 280SE and the 300SE, presumably for the scrap metal value. That only left the 300SEL which they probably didn't take because it was on blocks. Some one cut the padlock on the shed a month ago but only stole the whipper snipper. The 6.3 is still in the shed, also on blocks. Today, Justin, Oddie and Justin's mate the tilt tray driver have gone over in the pouring rain and retrieved the 300SEL and brought it to Justin's shed before it also disappears. Now all I have to do is get rid of the tramp who is squatting in the house .
Art |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| cth350 |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 07:38:17
Which reminds me...
Back in '90 I had a firebird. It got stolen twice within 6 months. The 1st time, it got a ticket because the meter maids at the time weren't tied into theft report data. Now, we have specially equipped police cars that scan plates looking for outstanding violations, thefts, etc.
When the car was recovered, I got to speak with the arresting officer. Seems he was driving down the block and saw a kid tinkering under the hood of a car. He immediately pulled over and arrested the kid, since he had like 10 priors. Apparently he had just started to strip the car and decided to start with the carb (screwing it up in the process).
-CTH
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| mthomas |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 17:51:14
It is quite unfortunate...and is the reason I wont take my 3.5 or S55 anywhere outside a locked garage where I have to take my eyes off of them for more than five minutes...scumbags wont think twice about breaking glass or keying something you spent years to collect and maintain.
I vote for capital punishment for car theft...
Just like horse theft in the old days.
Just sayin.
Mike |
| mtrei |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 15:44:13
quote:
Originally posted by Art Love
...they saw the thieves loading the cars onto a tray truck in broad daylight and just presumed they were the owners moving them!
That's what usually happens. Unlike the stereotyped image, car thieves don't wear a ski mask and carry a bag that says "car theft tools". So when you see someone trying to break into a car, the natural assumption is that they're just the owner who somehow got locked out.
New cars are now much harder to steal, but that leaves those of us with older cars vulnerable. Despite it being out of fashion, I still use a Club on my daily driver. All it does is encourage someone looking for a car for a joyride to pick an easier target. |
| alabbasi |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 10:40:35
When I reported my truck stolen, it was pretty clear that the police were not going to look for them. If they happen to stop someone for any reason, then they might run the numbers and see that it was stolen but that's about all I should expect.
With best regards
Al
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| Art Love |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 09:17:37
I talked to the manager at the banana wholesalers in the shed opposite and he checked with his people. Unfortunately, they don't have security cameras but they saw the thieves loading the cars onto a tray truck in broad daylight and just presumed they were the owners moving them! The next shed is a transport firm and they have a security camera that films their front gate, yard and the street. They have undertaken to review their film for the last fortnight. I have written the cars off, but it would make me feel better if the police were able to get these people. I've put in a police report on Monday before I went and spoke with the people opposite and shall add the additional information. The company behind the banana wholesalers will also have cameras which may show the street in the other direction, but I haven't spoken to them yet.
Art |
| Craig Tucker |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 06:33:14
How do car thieves get insurance?
C.T.
1969 300SEL 6.3 (to be AMG 6.8 replica) #1268
1971 300SEL 6.3 #5713
1970 600 SWB #1692
1993 300E-24
1959 220SE Ponton #9500929
1983 Schuler 5.0lt Range Rover |
| unpolire |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 17:21:38
Scumbags are everywhere. I had 17 of my classics, some perfect and turnkey, all covered and locked, in a secure private storage. An unlicensed rogue towing operator came in and took them all without my knowledge or notice. Cars are all over the world now, including a $60K 356C in Australia. I have sued them for over $250K and we are near settlement with their supposed insurance, but nothing is certain. I could wind up with all of their flat bed trucks instead. Two M100s, one leak-free and strong running, were amongst those cars, along with a 109. One was recovered by police, my 1967 Maserati Ghibli, which they abandoned on city streets because they could not find the VIN, which is all over the car and hand-engraved on every piece of trim! Hopefully the owner does not go to jail before I collect from his company. CA DMV Investigations are after this guy, but local police were useless because it happened on private property! |
| cth350 |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 15:12:18
Art,
I know exactly how you feel. The 450se theft Al mentioned included 12 other cars at my friend's place in West Virginia. He has gravely ill and some of his "friends" cleared his place out of anything and everything metal the days after he went to a hospital for the last time with fatal complications of Hepatitis C. His good buddies didn't think he needed the Adenauers, 6.3, 450sl, 450se, etc. any more.
We informed the police about the estimated 26,000$ grand theft and they did a whole lot of nothing.
-CTH
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| Art Love |
Posted - 04/28/2012 : 19:00:37
The Rocklea cars were on my property. It is against the law to leave an unregistered car on the street under council bylaws. The 280S was legally parked in my street and registered. I went to the police but it was quarter to four and they were not interested in taking a report because they "closed" at four. I'm supposed to do it by phone! I went to the two nearest wrecking yards, one of which is German Wrecking who mostly deal in Mercedes, but neither claimed any knowledge. The cars were definitely not at German Wrecking which is a small yard. The other is huge but unlikely interested in these cars. I also went to the nearest metal scrapper and the guy there seemed to be interested but claimed no knowledge - you can't get in to see what is at the back - he took details of the cars and my phone number. There are too many metal scrappers and they'd be likely crushed by now anyway.
The odd thing that Justin noticed was that they left a heavy combined exhaust and inlet manifold from a 6 cylinder car lying on the ground. They took the large terracotta pot off the boot of one of them and left that as well! I have no idea where the cane recliner came from .
In the house the hot water unit was opened up looking for copper (it didn't have any so it was left lying on its side. The copper pipes to and from it were taken leaving water running. There are some real scumbags here.
Art |
| Ron B |
Posted - 04/28/2012 : 18:28:21
Scrap cars are huge money here right now with scrappers able to get close to $500 each. Originally they could just turn up at the scrap dealers and off load the car and collect the cash but lately Qld has bought in laws saying that the scrappers must have a signed declaration that the owner of the car (with ID) has indeed sold the car for scrap. Obviously some rogue operators are working outside the law and paying for cars without the paper work. All cars in Australia exist in one form or another in a central data base .
I often have to chase off people ratting through the neighbors metal bins . They toss everything out on the ground looking for copper then just leave rubbish everywhere.
 quote:
12-14-2004, 11:49 PM #8
Tom Hanson
MBCA Member
What the heck, try to stuff a MB 6.9 liter V8 in it. What a machine that would be..
__________________
Tom Hanson
Orange County Section
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| alabbasi |
Posted - 04/28/2012 : 12:08:08
That's unfortunate, I had a 73 350SE with a 4 speed manual stolen last year and my truck was stolen from outside my hobby shop in January. I'm still fuming about the truck
With best regards
Al
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| mtrei |
Posted - 04/28/2012 : 12:07:12
That's terrible Art. Did you contact the police? Perhaps a check of local scrap metal dealers could track the cars down before they're gone. In the US this would be grand theft auto, a serious crime. In most states an unregistered car without plates sitting on a public street will be considered abandoned. |
