Well, I've just had an interesting week. I can talk about it now, cos my bail has been withdrawn and the case marked "no further action" so there is now no problem with prejudicing legal proceedings!
Some of you will remember the datsun 260z I bought a couple of months back, for those who don't it was a restoration project with no valid numberplate and no logbook. I bought it from a 90 year old guy who was about to go into a nursing home and was selling off his property. It had been stored for so many years that the garage it was in was falling down around it, and the door fell off as we opened it (the garage door that is).
I then spent some time on the car, assesing it in terms of worth/work/weighbridge trying to find out some info about it. The plates it was displaying belong to a porsche, but was a private number so obviously transferred off, perhaps by a numberplate dealer. I found a chassis number, clearly stamped (under 35 years of paint and rot), checked with my local police, car comes back not stolen but they wont tell me what its reg number is. Oh well, it's a long term project anyhow, needs loads of work and a fair bit of money spent on it. So I put it on ebay. £99 start, no reserve, highest bid gets it. I'd rather it went that way than over the weighbridge as frag feed, thats why I bought it in the first place, to save it from the scrap (which is where it would have gone the next day). 7 days later, its made a healthy £585, and is going to a datsun restorer near york who is going to collect with cash. Yay thinks I, perfect buyer! So I go to work happy on monday morning.
I was still happy tuesday lunchtime, until a police car drove into the yard, another two blocked the gate and suddenly I'm surrounded by Hi-viz jackets and hats...... One copper says "I have reason to believe thats a stolen car" (points at el Z) "can you open the bonnet for me?" damn. "can you confirm that that chassis number is the same as the one I have written here?" like its a bleeding magic trick. I revealed that chassis number, you couldn't see the blasted thing before... bah
So, I'm cautioned, arrested for theft of a motor vehicle, handcuffed and put in a police car. Rather inconvenient really, my wife had a hospital appointment, there were customers waiting in the garage (one with her car in bits on the ramp) and I'm getting taken away. Now. Good job Jade was there, left her, her mate, the stroppy customers and 4 police to sort it out.
Full works at the police station too, photos, digital prints (had to wash hands a few times for that to work, lol) DNA and a drug test. Then I had to confirm my name and DOB again cos the PNC couldn't find my record. Thats cos I havn't got one. This has been a first for me. Property in a bag, no shoes, taped interview. Now I get to find out what the heck is going on!
According to the police the owner of the car, who had only been storing it temporarily at the old man's property, discovered on sunday that his car was missing, and reported it stolen on monday morning. He has a logbook in his name, and he can describe the car. He also says he last saw the car in situ a fortnight ago. The police then "investigated" by searching ebay, finding 1 260z sold within 10 miles. Guess who that was? Simple matter then to find me and pounce. The old man denied any knowledge of selling it too. I gave my account, of buying in good faith from the householder, with his next door neighbour as witness to the deal (we borrowed his footpump to get the car rolling, and he made everyone a cuppa) mentioned my efforts in tracing the car's history and offered the thread on this board as proof of my efforts and confirmation of my having it for six weeks, not two. I also suggested that the man with the logbook may NOT be the legal owner, as if he abandoned the car there years ago (perhaps after selling its numberplate?) its not his car anymore, it belongs to the owner of the property, and is his to sell on. I also suggested that he only reported it stolen cos it just made nearly £600 on ebay, and he wants the money. So I got bailed pending further enquiries, and I get back to an empty space in the yard cos the car has been impounded.
Monday this week, a guy strolls in with a big grin and says " hya andy, small world isn't it? It was MY datsun you got..." I could have killed him, but being on bail kinda restrains you a bit. Then he goes on about his "valuable" Jaguar 4.2 engine and escort mexico engines that also dissapeared, so I chased him. I'm really kinda mad about it anyway, and he's exactly the sort of person who would do what I suspect got done. Plus, He's there saying he has the car back, so the Police have done me over. They helped him steal it from me as far as I'm concerned. Only bright spot I can see is that the storage place charged him £200 for recovery and storage for a week
After I calmed down a bit, I rang the police. They had "good" news for me, everything I told them checked out, the neighbour backed me up and the old man admitted selling me the car. Great. We're going to NFA the case, you don't have to answer bail. Super. Can I have my fingerprints and DNA back? fancy paying me for tuesday? what about the money I paid for the car. Sorry, I have to make a civil case against the old man if I want to see my money back, and it just isn't worth the bother.
Some git now has a car he doesn't deserve (It was abandoned. He didn't give a damn about it or he would have moved it a lot earlier) which if I hadn't come along would have been permanantly destroyed along with his "precious" jag and mexico engines (come on, you can't give a jag 4.2 away for nowt and unless they were mk1 mex engines (BDA) thats a 1.6 pinto then. Really valuable) and what did I get. Kicked in the balls. Twice. BAH!!
Moral (if there is one...): From now on, No logbook, no car. Frag feed only
Some of you will remember the datsun 260z I bought a couple of months back, for those who don't it was a restoration project with no valid numberplate and no logbook. I bought it from a 90 year old guy who was about to go into a nursing home and was selling off his property. It had been stored for so many years that the garage it was in was falling down around it, and the door fell off as we opened it (the garage door that is).
I then spent some time on the car, assesing it in terms of worth/work/weighbridge trying to find out some info about it. The plates it was displaying belong to a porsche, but was a private number so obviously transferred off, perhaps by a numberplate dealer. I found a chassis number, clearly stamped (under 35 years of paint and rot), checked with my local police, car comes back not stolen but they wont tell me what its reg number is. Oh well, it's a long term project anyhow, needs loads of work and a fair bit of money spent on it. So I put it on ebay. £99 start, no reserve, highest bid gets it. I'd rather it went that way than over the weighbridge as frag feed, thats why I bought it in the first place, to save it from the scrap (which is where it would have gone the next day). 7 days later, its made a healthy £585, and is going to a datsun restorer near york who is going to collect with cash. Yay thinks I, perfect buyer! So I go to work happy on monday morning.
I was still happy tuesday lunchtime, until a police car drove into the yard, another two blocked the gate and suddenly I'm surrounded by Hi-viz jackets and hats...... One copper says "I have reason to believe thats a stolen car" (points at el Z) "can you open the bonnet for me?" damn. "can you confirm that that chassis number is the same as the one I have written here?" like its a bleeding magic trick. I revealed that chassis number, you couldn't see the blasted thing before... bah
So, I'm cautioned, arrested for theft of a motor vehicle, handcuffed and put in a police car. Rather inconvenient really, my wife had a hospital appointment, there were customers waiting in the garage (one with her car in bits on the ramp) and I'm getting taken away. Now. Good job Jade was there, left her, her mate, the stroppy customers and 4 police to sort it out.
Full works at the police station too, photos, digital prints (had to wash hands a few times for that to work, lol) DNA and a drug test. Then I had to confirm my name and DOB again cos the PNC couldn't find my record. Thats cos I havn't got one. This has been a first for me. Property in a bag, no shoes, taped interview. Now I get to find out what the heck is going on!
According to the police the owner of the car, who had only been storing it temporarily at the old man's property, discovered on sunday that his car was missing, and reported it stolen on monday morning. He has a logbook in his name, and he can describe the car. He also says he last saw the car in situ a fortnight ago. The police then "investigated" by searching ebay, finding 1 260z sold within 10 miles. Guess who that was? Simple matter then to find me and pounce. The old man denied any knowledge of selling it too. I gave my account, of buying in good faith from the householder, with his next door neighbour as witness to the deal (we borrowed his footpump to get the car rolling, and he made everyone a cuppa) mentioned my efforts in tracing the car's history and offered the thread on this board as proof of my efforts and confirmation of my having it for six weeks, not two. I also suggested that the man with the logbook may NOT be the legal owner, as if he abandoned the car there years ago (perhaps after selling its numberplate?) its not his car anymore, it belongs to the owner of the property, and is his to sell on. I also suggested that he only reported it stolen cos it just made nearly £600 on ebay, and he wants the money. So I got bailed pending further enquiries, and I get back to an empty space in the yard cos the car has been impounded.
Monday this week, a guy strolls in with a big grin and says " hya andy, small world isn't it? It was MY datsun you got..." I could have killed him, but being on bail kinda restrains you a bit. Then he goes on about his "valuable" Jaguar 4.2 engine and escort mexico engines that also dissapeared, so I chased him. I'm really kinda mad about it anyway, and he's exactly the sort of person who would do what I suspect got done. Plus, He's there saying he has the car back, so the Police have done me over. They helped him steal it from me as far as I'm concerned. Only bright spot I can see is that the storage place charged him £200 for recovery and storage for a week
After I calmed down a bit, I rang the police. They had "good" news for me, everything I told them checked out, the neighbour backed me up and the old man admitted selling me the car. Great. We're going to NFA the case, you don't have to answer bail. Super. Can I have my fingerprints and DNA back? fancy paying me for tuesday? what about the money I paid for the car. Sorry, I have to make a civil case against the old man if I want to see my money back, and it just isn't worth the bother.
Some git now has a car he doesn't deserve (It was abandoned. He didn't give a damn about it or he would have moved it a lot earlier) which if I hadn't come along would have been permanantly destroyed along with his "precious" jag and mexico engines (come on, you can't give a jag 4.2 away for nowt and unless they were mk1 mex engines (BDA) thats a 1.6 pinto then. Really valuable) and what did I get. Kicked in the balls. Twice. BAH!!
Moral (if there is one...): From now on, No logbook, no car. Frag feed only
. I gotta say I think I'd be trying to recover the car through the courts just out of sheer bloody-mindedness to wipe the smirk off that smarmy twunts face.
(what a load of.....) So after she had took some of her rubbish out of her car in fear of the off chance that her car may be broken into in a secure garage in a secure compund. In my opinion only a blind, traveller with no sense of smell would target that biological hazard! As i know of personal experience my oldest most stupid dog will not go near that car! And she's nearly dead 
