dww Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 My 1955 Buick special was stolen last night out of my garage in the middle of the night while I was sleeping, the police have been notified, if anybody see it let me know. I live in the Wichita Ks (316)-687-0218 Don😢  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Don, I'm sorry to hear that. You should know that divine justice is always working on the side of good. You can get your car back.  You should also post this in the "Buick--General" category so that many Buick followers will know. Just scroll down the list of categories, and you'll see it among many Buick-related categories. Or use this link:  https://forums.aaca.org/forum/10-buick-general/  2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthcranbrook Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Very sorry to hear this. Hopefully the magic of the Internet and of course the Police find it quick and safe. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trulyvintage Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 It was probably someone who knew you and/or the car - think on it and you might figure out who was behind the theft. Â Â Jim 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37_Roadmaster_C Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 4 hours ago, Trulyvintage said: It was probably someone who knew you and/or the car - think on it and you might figure out who was behind the theft.   Jim ^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^ It is extremely unusual for a car to be stolen out of a garage by someone who does not know the car is there. Even more so for a classic car. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kornkurt Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Not many people know where the starter switch is on a '56 Buick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry22 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 So sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident, or should I say a criminal act committed by a low life. Â Let us know if you receive positive news on your car's recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 You might want to ask the police to send the particulars on your car to collector car dealers putting them on notice to be on the lookout for your car. Collector cars aren't an easy sale, the thief will be looking to peddle your car for a quick profit, may turn to selling it to a dealer.  Good luck, hope it's returned safe and sound, that the miscreant brought to justice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Bummer, hope they find it soon. Let’s hope it’s also not a car that is going to show up on OVER HAULED as it looks too nice for that gang to modify it. dave s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Beautiful car, sorry for your loss. Hope that the car will be recovered in a short period of time. Very distinctive, hard to hide this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dww Posted January 29, 2022 Author Share Posted January 29, 2022 Good news, the police got the guy driving the car last night they call me at 12:30 am to come and pick it up, it looks OK and is back in my garage now. Â Don 31 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buick35 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Good to hear. Did you know the guy? I hope my 35 doesn't get stolen out of my garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Great news. Time to get a new lock for the garage. One thing you can do if you have a garage door opener is to put that plug on a switch in the house. When your in for the night turn the switch off and they can’t open your door with the portable signal interceptors a thief uses. dave s 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepher Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Great to hear that you got your car back. Â And just to build on the garage door advice, it's not a good idea to leave your garage door cracked open just a little if you are not home or you are asleep. Using the gap at the top of the door, thieves can use a wire hook to disconnect the opener from the door and just slide the door open. Â Will be interesting to see how this guy knew of your car and where to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 2 hours ago, dww said: Good news, the police got the guy driving the car last night they call me at 12:30 am to come and pick it up, it looks OK and is back in my garage now.  Don He couldn’t be the brightest bulb in the box.  When you steal a car that is unlike anything else commonly on the road and drive it around for anyone to see, knowing that by now a police report has been issued, is just plain dumb.  But on the plus side, that stupidity worked out in your favor. Glad to hear you have the car back in your possession. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Glad to hear the car has been recovered.   My aunt had a '55 Century that was stolen and recovered 3 times. Maybe these Buicks have a 'charmed' existence!  I think the 'Lock-Off-On' ignition switch is a very bad idea.  Makes it too easy for thieves to get the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry22 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 As far as the guy who stole the car, he may not be in jail, and if he is, he will be released and out on the street ready to commit another crime. It's too bad a bullet is the only way to stop some people with bad habits. Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 40 minutes ago, TerryB said: He couldn’t be the brightest bulb in the box.  When you steal a car that is unlike anything else commonly on the road and drive it around for anyone to see, knowing that by now a police report has been issued, is just plain dumb.  But on the plus side, that stupidity worked out in your favor. Glad to hear you have the car back in your possession.  I agree. It would be interesting to know how many classic cars are stolen every year, and how it compares with cars stolen in general. I'm guessing it's low (for the reasons you state) but it could be that really old cars are a bigger thrill for joy riders, too. That's why having things like manual transmission, three speed column shift and carbs with manual chokes on old cars is an advantage...young thieves won't know how to drive them. And manual spark advance is even better!😄 Seriously, though, a well placed battery disconnect switch might deter some of the dumber thieves. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 That's awesome it did not take long to recover your Buick. Kudos to the police. Time for a garage door alarm. Sucks knowing you now really need to watch your belongings. Is LoJack still around? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 A simple toggle switch, discretely hidden, that grounds the points/coil is cheap and effective.........Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Would it be asking too much (giving too much info to thieves) to elaborate a bit on the theft? How did they get the door open, were the keys in the car, etc.? might help save someone elses car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9F94M567042 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Lots of those kind of people around. To bad they can't do something useful with their life like get a JOB?? Anyway, here is a cheap and easy way to prevent the door from being opened. Either by hand or using a remote to find the code. I put just a simple heavy duty padlock on the vertical rail for the door. Doesn't need to be locked, just the fact that it is there will prevent the door from being opened. You of course will need to go inside and remove it before attempting to open the door, but the few minutes it takes to do that will save a LOT of headaches if something did happen. And it will deter most thieves from trying very hard. Glad to hear you got the car back again. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Man Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Most people don't realize it but the hole in the end is for a lock, the holes have been there for as long as I can remember. Â 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 I hope he is hung by string s attached to privates. Glad it was recovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 40 minutes ago, 9F94M567042 said: Lots of those kind of people around. To bad they can't do something useful with their life like get a JOB?? Anyway, here is a cheap and easy way to prevent the door from being opened. Either by hand or using a remote to find the code. I put just a simple heavy duty padlock on the vertical rail for the door. Doesn't need to be locked, just the fact that it is there will prevent the door from being opened. You of course will need to go inside and remove it before attempting to open the door, but the few minutes it takes to do that will save a LOT of headaches if something did happen. And it will deter most thieves from trying very hard. Glad to hear you got the car back again. Â Yes ! Â I do something very similar, but simpler- Â I jam an angled Jack handle, or even a big screwdriver- Â The door cannot be raised more than one (1") inch the way ours is situated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Another item to look into is a garage door opener control app and device that you can shutdown the garage door operation from your phone. My door has as device that alerts my phone when the door is opened.  2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) A good friend went away for the week end. Upon his return he discovered his new Corvette was stolen from his garage. Seems the perpetrator also made him self a sandwich, had two beers, and took a shower. He found the Vette keys on the key rack, grabbed a couple of bottles of booze, a handful of my friend's wife's underwear and he and the Vette were................... Gone. Couple of days later his stolen Vette was spotted in Georgia and his neighbor's son was arrested without incident. Point is, all the deterrents in the world won't stop the determined, stupid, or depraved. We all try but all we can do is make it difficult for the miscreant. As an aside, a few years later the young man hung himself in prison after killing his girl friend and hiding her body in the wall of a house.           My friend always thought he was a nice quiet kid........Ya'll be careful now. Heah.........Bob  Edited January 30, 2022 by Bhigdog (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Bhigdog said: A good friend went away for the week end. Upon his return he discovered his new Corvette was stolen from his garage. Seems the perpetrator also made him self a sandwich, had two beers, and took a shower. He found the Vette keys on the key rack, grabbed a couple of bottles of booze, a handful of my friend's wife's underwear and he and the Vette were................... Gone. Couple of days later his stolen Vette was spotted in Georgia and his neighbor's son was arrested without incident. Point is, all the deterrents in the world won't stop the determined, stupid, or depraved. We all try but all we can do is make it difficult for the miscreant. As an aside, a few years later the young man hung himself in prison after killing his girl friend and hiding her body in the wall of a house.           My friend always thought he was a nice quiet kid........Ya'll be careful now. Heah.........Bob Somewhat familiar story. I wonder he left the housekeys with the trusted adult neighbor.  One of my plumbing customers left his house key with the next door neighbor while going away for the weekend. The neighbor's son took the keys to his plumbing van and joyrided to a city 180 miles north of here, until he ran it out of gas 15 miles from the destination city, and abandoned it at the side of the highway. Ironically, the cops stopped him two times along the way, first, at a town 90 miles along the way, because the cop thought he was "too young" to be driving a van like it. He was 16 at the time, showed a valid driver's licence, and told the cop he was on his way to 'help his dad', and the cop bought the story. When he ran it out of fuel, while walking along the side of the highway, another kind police officer pulled over and gave him a ride into the city. In the meantime, the van got towed to the impound lot as an 'abandoned vehicle'. (Probably was a good thing, so the contents didn't get stolen while on the side of the highway.) After was all said and done, my customer was the one who had to do all legwork to retrieve his van from the impound lot, and pay all the towing & storage fees. It left my customer with the dilemma of wanting to press charges with the neighbor's kid with theft, which would have proven useless, being a minor under 18 and keeping the peace with his neighbor.  Craig Edited January 30, 2022 by 8E45E (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John348 Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I am very glad that your car was recovered. Ebay and Criagslist has become an easy "fence" for stolen parts for a vintage car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan315 Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 14 hours ago, Graham Man said: Most people don't realize it but the hole in the end is for a lock, the holes have been there for as long as I can remember. Â i always latch my door and then put a lock through it, dont have to LOCK the lock jsut put it in there, keep the honest honest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger914 Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 49 minutes ago, BearsFan315 said: i always latch my door and then put a lock through it, dont have to LOCK the lock jsut put it in there, keep the honest honest Where I am an unlocked paddle lock would be a minor inconvenience. In my neighborhood the late night sneak thief's usually go in through the service door and don't open the big door until they are ready to leave. Locked or not, a door with a key lock knob is open in 3 seconds and if your service door doesn't have a locked deadbolt, you will never hear the sound of breaking glass.  Very glad to hear that the Buick is back where it belongs and that it came back in good shape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Man Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Good or bad, a new battery powered cut off wheels will go through almost anything. They slice off catalytic converters in seconds...  I am surprise about the fact the person was able to start and drive the car, not real bright pretty easy car to spot.  Extremely glad you were able to recover the car in tact, nice when the system works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Just like the lock on the track, anything stuck in there will prevent the door from going up. And yes, if a thief wants in they will get in. One of the reasons to have insurance. I am lucky as I have never had a theft from home. I have more than my share from job sites though. We used to use sea containers for job site storage. Padlocks get cut off. Then bought a high dollar job that could not be cut. SO they just cut the soft metal latch the lock was attached to. Then a bar across the doors. Angle grinder cut through the side wall. I dont miss those days at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrudy Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Congratulations on getting your car back. Best of luck with that beautiful Buick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkV Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Some possible security measures I’ve heard work: 1. Cameras that alert your phone 2. alarm the garage 3. opener that connects to the internet and alerts you to opening 4. kill switch 5. unplug the battery 6. park other less desirable cars in front of your garage 7. padlock on interior of garage door 8. lighting at night 9. motion sensors.  most of this is cheap now, it’s not the eighties anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 I have cameras at the only entry point to my garage, and I also have cameras inside the garage. Unfortunately I am afraid if I were to suffer a loss, pics of the perps. would not make much difference though. Other than just Pi&&&&% me off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Get a big loud dog!  Best alarm system ever. dave s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Have 3 of them also! Not big but loud, a squirrel cant pass through my yard without me knowing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 15 hours ago, MarkV said: Some possible security measures I’ve heard work: 1. Cameras that alert your phone 2. alarm the garage 3. opener that connects to the internet and alerts you to opening 4. kill switch 5. unplug the battery 6. park other less desirable cars in front of your garage 7. padlock on interior of garage door 8. lighting at night 9. motion sensors.  most of this is cheap now, it’s not the eighties anymore. 10. Keep the radio on 24/7 loud enough to hear from outside. It also deters mice.  Craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 10 hours ago, SC38dls said: Get a big loud dog!  Best alarm system ever. dave s A yappy ill-tempered small dog works too and doesn't eat as much! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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