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Classic car theft ring in Atlanta!!! warning.


Guest wildcat65401

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Guest wildcat65401

Hi all,

So yet another of my friends have had there classic stolen . The count in the last two or three months is up to around two dozen !!! These are mostly being stolen from the East Atlanta and Little five points area . They seem to be going for anything from the sixties more or less , from little hot rod scooby doo type vans worth nearly nothing to Lincoln continental rag tops . A rough list would include late sixties Chevy pickups , a Ford 150 , two Chevelles , a firebird , a Ranchero ..... etc etc .

So I just wanted anyone in this area to be extra careful , also mabye some of you have friends in the area you could warn . The cars were originally being stolen only late at night from bar parking lots but with the thieves success they seem to be getting bolder . My friend Alex's Chevelle was taken from in front of his house at ten a.m. while he dropped his kid off at day care , he was gone for about thirty minutes . His neighbour an older lady said it was a group of around five youngish guys .

Hopefully spreading the word will help someone hang on to their baby !

All the best ,

Paul.

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Guest wildcat65401

Kieth,

What really bothers me is that I been living in the same spot here for five years , driving only old cars and this just started happening around April or so . Out of the blue . And it now seems to be getting worse ?

Also most of the victims had no theft insurance confused.giffrown.gif.

It just makes me mad . The police have basically said ; we're not looking for them , too many cars get stolen every day for ous to go look for them !

So it seems as the old car hobby thing gets more popular in an area the crime follows along eventually. Oh well.

Paul.

Atlanta Ga.

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I believe several vehicles a year get stolen at the Carlisle Production show / events here in Pa. They have something going on every other week so they are an easy target. I guess the thieves figure with the hundreds of cars to choose from why not come to the cars as they are parked all over town for days.

The cops told me when my truck got broken into "we are to busy to deal with these type of issues, that is why you have insurance."

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I have a kill switch mounted in a very odd area of the car, sometimes homemade rigs are the hardest for thieves. If they can't start it its harder to steal. Short term solution is pulling the coil wire and putting it in a safe place.

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Guest 53Nailhead

I hope this will not be a problem in Batavia! We'll just have keep a close eye on each other cars!

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Pulling the coil wire is good, but it is very visible and easily replaced.

I would suggest pulling something less visible such as the rotor.

Also, talk to someone in your shop that works with totally invisible kill switches. My brother-in-law had one added to his truck that was invisible. To start the truck, you had to turn the parking lights on, and push in the cigarette lighter. Otherwise, when you turned the key, nothing happened.

I can't help but wonder where all these cars are going. Mexico, perhaps? Or maybe to a container on a ship to some sheik in some desert country.

Joe

Joe

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I to had a gizmo. I installed a extra headlight switch under and up by the brake petal so you would have to know where it was at to reach up with your foot and click it on and off. I ran the negative coil wire through this. It is all but impossible to see and figure out however the thieves that do this for a living (and there are many of them) simply use a roll back or enclosed trailer with a winch and worry about starting the vehicle later, when they get to their place where it is safe.

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Guest 60Buick

THANKS FOR THE INFO!!! I live 10 minutes from little 5, and have over 30 antiques on my property. Not to menchion that They are visable from the road and I am known as the one to see for an antique.

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Guest wildcat65401

Well ,

Believe it or not , my friend got his Ranchero back !!!!! shocked.giflaugh.gif

I don't know what shape its in but at least its back .

I'm amazed.

Paul.

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Skyking!

You are assuming crooks can READ!

Personally, I put my kill switch between the antrax-coated razor blade and the 480-volt bare wire, just inside the rattlesnake cage.

Hey, it's a KILL switch, right?

"That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Joe

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Guest wildcat65401

The ranchero was found by the police in a mall parking lot with no wheels. confused.gifmad.gif

And then the genius tow-truck guy working for the cops pulled it onto and off his truck with no wheels so all the damage was done to the car AFTER it was recovered!!!! Great eh ???

At least he got it back I suppose.

Paul.

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Uh,

Be sure and remind Mr. Towtruck Driver that YOUR insurance company will be in touch with HIS boss and HIS insurance company. If he tries to pretend as if he doesn't have insurance, he will have a bond required by the local PD in order to tow cars. Either way, his boss, his insurance or his bonding company should pay for the damage he caused by his laziness.

Either he knew better or he is ignorant about how to lift and tow a car. Every major tow truck company has wheel dollies to move cars in that condition.

Joe

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According to these BUYERS, they are:

From the June '04 Leake auction in Oklahoma City:

Chevelle 1967 Hardtop, 396, 4-speed $24,000

Chevelle 1969 Coupe, 396/325HP, 4-speed $21,000

Chevelle 1969 SS Hardtop, 454, 4-speed $15,500

Chevelle 1970 Post coupe, 454, automatic $19,500

Chevelle 1970 Hardtop, 454, automatic $15,950

Chevelle 1971 502/502HP, modified, automatic $21,000

Chevelle 1972 Malibu Clone, 454, automatic $12,750

From a Barrett-Jackson auction:

1970 CHEVELLE LS6 CONVERTIBLE $117,720

From an auction in Atlantic City:

Lot# Year Make Model Sale Price

1005 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle $83,000.00

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Guest wildcat65401

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the insite on the tow-truck problem . I called my friend and he is calling his insurance co. right now.

Also as he works for a local paper [creative loafing] we've convinced them to do a story about all the cars being stolen , We're thinking the more publicity about this the harder it will make it for the thieves , hopefully.

Thanks ,

Paul.

P.S. I am looking for a dailey driver for my friend , anyone in Atlanta with info any info please contact me .

bye, Paul

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Guest wildcat65401

Joe,

My friend just e mailed me and his insurance co. said as he only has liability he will have to ;"get the police department to offer any claims against the wrecking company".

Does this sound right to you ?? Atlanta being the way it can be and the towing co. being contractors for the p.d. I don't see them moving too fast on something like this . Do you think my friend has a better option ? Should his insurance co. handle it or are they off the hook because of his policey?

Thanks for your time, Paul.

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Paul,

If your friend only has liability coverage, his insurance company will be of little use to him because they have no risk (meaning $$) involved.

However, the towing company is definitely NOT off the hook. They caused physical damage to a vehicle they were in charge of and responsible for, or in other words, under their care and custody. In legalese, that is spelled LIABILITY.

I would be shocked to find out the PD let them tow vehicles without coverage. If they have coverage, they are NOT going to be eager to tell him who their insurance company is or how to get in touch with them.

There are several ways to proceed. He can document the damage (photos, estimates by an independent shop to repair damage, and a written opinion by an adjuster that the damage was caused by improper towing) and then go to court.

Based upon the amount of damage and the state laws where you live, he may be able to go to small claims court. After he files suit (probably costs about $25-75 to file) the towing company will be notified of the court date. They may then be eager to settle out of court because lawyers are NOT cheap. Worst case scenario is you go to court, present the evidence showing the damage, and take your chances with a judge. The judge could slam-dunk the tow company or split the bill with some ratio, such as 50-50 or 60-40.

If the dollar amount is high enough to not qualify for small claims court, I would recommend he get a lawyer. This will likely get more complicated and take longer, but ultimately he may get some money to help offset his loss. Keep in mind that if it goes to 'grown-up' court, the guy's insurance company will try to make it look as if it is all HIS fault (left the car in an unlocked garage, didn't have a theft device, etc.). However, this may be his only option if he wants to try to get some of his loss covered by the towing company.

Good luck. Loosing a car/truck is bad enough; having it torn apart by some idiot driving a tow truck adds insult to injury.

Joe

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Guest wildcat65401

Joe ,

Thanks for your time and the info . I am passing it all along to my friend and hopefully it will help him sort this mess out . It just does'nt seem fair that the towing co. should get paid for acting in such a careless way and my pal should have to pay for it .

Have agreat weekend everyone,

Paul.

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In fact----there is no such thing as a Chevrolet that is a "Classic Car". The majority of people think any thing over 15 years old is a "Classic". They are not----they're just "Old Cars' (some are desireable, but they still are just old cars.) I've got one 50 years old (in about 1 1/2 Condition---with 1 being perfect) and it was the best Buick made back then---but it's still just an "Old Car". It's worth a lot of bucks ,but I won't be redundant. tongue.gif

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If you think everyone is using terms such as classic, collectible or antique according to the rules in some book published by some club or organization, you are very naive.

This is a hobby built upon customer interest and what someone is willing to pay, not rules carved in stone carried down from a mountain top. If you want your car to be judged in a BCA event for a BCA award, you do so by BCA rules.

If you want your Chevy to sell at an auction for top dollar, you had better bring what someone is willing to buy. You can give a top BCA award to a Lesabre 4-door sedan, but that doesn't mean it will bring $30,000 at auction.

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That I go by designations that were set up 40 years ago. As far as I am concerned

anything made after 1960 is a "New Car" and I would always shake my head in amazement when people started collecting Mustangs----because to me ,they were nothing but scrap iron. I could never afford a real nice "Classic Car" although

I had one in 1969 that barely made it in. It was a 1940 Fleetwood Cadillac Model 7219. I paid $1200 for it and even though it was in pretty fair shape, I couldn't afford the correct upholstery and lacquer paint job (and the tires for that matter). I finally sold it in 1978 for $4000. I bought my '55-76R in 1970 from the proverbial "little old lady" and have owned it ever since (and spent a fortune on it). I still consider it a "Recent Model". Every body does their own thing ---but I've never seen a Chevrolet made since 1932 that I didn't think was "scrap iron". The wrath of all the "Boomers" will come down on me for that---but that is the way I feel about it. frown.gif

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