Having had my Avenger stolen has got me thinking about what can be done to combat classic car theft, and more immediately, increase the odds that stolen classics will be found.
I think we need to admit to ourselves that the police are worse than useless for in dealing with this type of problem. I've quickly realized dealing with the Surrey police that they aren't going to do anything unless I solve the case for them. I'm not even sure that if I track down the car and find out the identity of the thief that even then they will do anything about it. Probably just thank me for solving it so that they can close the file.
So over the past week, while I have been phoning various racetrack operators, scrapyards and car breakers, I have come up with an idea that could dramatically increase the odds of being successful.
Would there be anyone out there that would be interested in forming an association or club or whatever you might want to call it with the express purpose of trying to locate and recover stolen classics. We could call it the Classic Car Rescue Foundation.
I shouldn't think it would require very much money, resources or even time to operate. We wouldn't need to be formally structured. It would be a volunteer organization after all. I have my own webblog, and I could create another weblog devoted to this project which would be an ideal format, allowing various authorized members of the association to post items about stolen classics on the blog pages, and then allowing other people to post tips, and suchlike in the comment section.
What would take time would be creating comprehensive lists of scrapyards, breakers, and banger track operators with all of their contact info. In the case of the scrapyards and breakers, these lists could be local, since if the car is being hauled for scrap the thief isn't likely going to haul it all that far. The banger racing list could be national one since there are relatively few banger tracks.
Once we have a list of possible destinations for stolen cars with contact info, it would be relatively easy to send out a notices of stolen cars, together with all the relevant information, whether by fax, email, or post. If the owner wished to offer a reward, this could be put in the information as well. Hopefully, in this way we would be able to reach the scrapyards, breakers, and banger tracks before the cars were cubed, or broken, or raced.
Also, if we found out that certain track operators or breakers yards were turning a blind eye to stolen cars, we could red flag them and have volunteers try to catch them out. We could have a local member go to the banger races and watch for the car, or phone the dodgy breakers and inquire about the availability of a part for the stolen car.
I've discovered that doing this sort of thing from scratch as I have been in the past week, looking up race tracks, breakers and scrappers, finding their contact info, and then calling them is time consuming. However it is likely the only way I will find my car. That said, if we organized and gathered all that information together, after that, it would relatively easy.
I also think there are longer term benefits. If we were successful at recovering cars, we might shame the police into doing more. It would be so easy for them to do what I have suggested, that I'm surprised they haven't. Waiting for information from the public won't work here. Intercepting the car at its likely final destination would probably produce better results.
Another long term benefit would be to recruit scrapyards, breakers, and banger track operators to our cause. If a certain yard or track is helpful in recovering a car we could send a press release to the local newspaper praising the business in question for their cooperation.
I'm a lawyer by trade, and I would be happy to volunteer my services towards suing uncooperative track owners and scrapyard owners, or thieves for damages relating to the repair or recovery of cars, or where the car was crushed or banger raced, for the loss of the car. No track owner or scrapyard owner wants the bad publicity attendent with such a lawsuit. Even less they don't want to see their damages paid out in damage awards and court costs. As for the thieves, they probably don't have the money to pay and probably have no intention of doing so, which is fine by me, because then the bailiffs would have to seize something of value to recover the debt. It's probably a lot harder to steal cars after the bailiffs have taken your flat deck truck to satisfy a court order.
Anyways, these are just my thoughts. I'm prepared to volunteer to make any such effort a success. Perhaps others are too. Perhaps you don't think its worth it. Please let me know your thoughts and opinions on this.
Drew
I think we need to admit to ourselves that the police are worse than useless for in dealing with this type of problem. I've quickly realized dealing with the Surrey police that they aren't going to do anything unless I solve the case for them. I'm not even sure that if I track down the car and find out the identity of the thief that even then they will do anything about it. Probably just thank me for solving it so that they can close the file.
So over the past week, while I have been phoning various racetrack operators, scrapyards and car breakers, I have come up with an idea that could dramatically increase the odds of being successful.
Would there be anyone out there that would be interested in forming an association or club or whatever you might want to call it with the express purpose of trying to locate and recover stolen classics. We could call it the Classic Car Rescue Foundation.
I shouldn't think it would require very much money, resources or even time to operate. We wouldn't need to be formally structured. It would be a volunteer organization after all. I have my own webblog, and I could create another weblog devoted to this project which would be an ideal format, allowing various authorized members of the association to post items about stolen classics on the blog pages, and then allowing other people to post tips, and suchlike in the comment section.
What would take time would be creating comprehensive lists of scrapyards, breakers, and banger track operators with all of their contact info. In the case of the scrapyards and breakers, these lists could be local, since if the car is being hauled for scrap the thief isn't likely going to haul it all that far. The banger racing list could be national one since there are relatively few banger tracks.
Once we have a list of possible destinations for stolen cars with contact info, it would be relatively easy to send out a notices of stolen cars, together with all the relevant information, whether by fax, email, or post. If the owner wished to offer a reward, this could be put in the information as well. Hopefully, in this way we would be able to reach the scrapyards, breakers, and banger tracks before the cars were cubed, or broken, or raced.
Also, if we found out that certain track operators or breakers yards were turning a blind eye to stolen cars, we could red flag them and have volunteers try to catch them out. We could have a local member go to the banger races and watch for the car, or phone the dodgy breakers and inquire about the availability of a part for the stolen car.
I've discovered that doing this sort of thing from scratch as I have been in the past week, looking up race tracks, breakers and scrappers, finding their contact info, and then calling them is time consuming. However it is likely the only way I will find my car. That said, if we organized and gathered all that information together, after that, it would relatively easy.
I also think there are longer term benefits. If we were successful at recovering cars, we might shame the police into doing more. It would be so easy for them to do what I have suggested, that I'm surprised they haven't. Waiting for information from the public won't work here. Intercepting the car at its likely final destination would probably produce better results.
Another long term benefit would be to recruit scrapyards, breakers, and banger track operators to our cause. If a certain yard or track is helpful in recovering a car we could send a press release to the local newspaper praising the business in question for their cooperation.
I'm a lawyer by trade, and I would be happy to volunteer my services towards suing uncooperative track owners and scrapyard owners, or thieves for damages relating to the repair or recovery of cars, or where the car was crushed or banger raced, for the loss of the car. No track owner or scrapyard owner wants the bad publicity attendent with such a lawsuit. Even less they don't want to see their damages paid out in damage awards and court costs. As for the thieves, they probably don't have the money to pay and probably have no intention of doing so, which is fine by me, because then the bailiffs would have to seize something of value to recover the debt. It's probably a lot harder to steal cars after the bailiffs have taken your flat deck truck to satisfy a court order.
Anyways, these are just my thoughts. I'm prepared to volunteer to make any such effort a success. Perhaps others are too. Perhaps you don't think its worth it. Please let me know your thoughts and opinions on this.
Drew